Top LeT commander, aide ‘killed’ in Kulgam encounter
A top Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander is among two militants believed to be killed in an ongoing encounter in the Arwini area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, 42 km south of Srinagar.
Two civilians have also been shot dead, allegedly by security forces, during clashes that erupted around the site of the encounter.
Though the firing has stopped at the encounter site, the bodies of militants are yet to be retrieved and the operation is still not over, officially.
According to reports, security forces cordoned off the Malik Mohalla locality in Arwini early Friday morning on a tip-off regarding presence of militants in the area.
“There has been intermittent exchange of fire throughout the day and we believe two militants have been gunned down. The exchange of fire has halted since around 4 pm now,” a senior police official said.
Though the bodies are yet to be retrieved, the police believe that one among the slain militants might be a most wanted Lashkar commander, Junaid Mattoo.
Mattoo’s name was in the 12 most wanted militants list issued recently by the Army in Kashmir. He carried a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head.
“Efforts are on to retrieve the bodies from the rubble of the house they were hiding in,” police sources said.
Local sources said at least three houses had been razed to ground by the bombardment carried out by security forces.
Meanwhile, as the encounter was on hundreds of local youth assembled and in a bid to give trapped militants an escape route engaged security forces by stone-throwing. Security forces fired live ammunition, pellets and tear-smoke shells to disperse the protesters leaving two civilians dead and more than 30 injured, at least 10 of them with bullet wounds.
The slain civilians have been identified as 22-year-old Muhammad Ashraf Khar of Khar Mohalla in Arwini and 14-year-old Ahsan Dar of Shamsipora village in neighboring Anantnag district.
Both of them have been shot in the chest as confirmed by the health officials at District Hospital, Anantnag, and Sub-District Hospital, Qaimoh, Kulgam district.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Kulgam, Dr Muhammad Shafi confirmed the killing of Ahsan Dar at Qaimoh Sub-District Hospital and said different hospitals in Kulgam treated around 10 other injured youth. “Five of them had firearm injuries,” he said.
In Bijbehara Sub-District Hospital 10 more injured were treated, four of them with bullet injuries.
“Two with bullet injuries and three others with pellet injuries in their eyes have been shifted to Srinagar for specialised treatment,” Block Medical Officer (BMO), Bijbehara, Dr Showket, said. In Anantnag district Hospital nine injured, two of them with bullet injuries, were treated.
“They were all stable while one of the injured, Muhammad Ashraf, succumbed to his injuries here,” Medical Superintendent (MS) of the hospital Dr Majid Mirab said. A combing operation of the encounter site was on while this report was filed.
