Two militants were gunned down in an ongoing gunfight with security forces while a teenage boy was killed and two young girls were critically injured as security forces allegedly opened fire at protesters near the encounter site in Shopian district of south Kashmir.
The injured girls have bullet wounds on their heads and are critical, as per health officials. The encounter raged in Chaigund village of Shopian district, some 50 km south of the summer capital.
The slain teenager has been identified as Shakir Mir, son of Mohammad Yousuf Mir, a resident of Kalampora village in Pulwama district.
The identity of the slain militants and injured girls was yet to be ascertained.
As per police reports, the gunfight started in Chaigund village around 4.30 pm today, minutes after a particular locality was cordoned off and searches were being carried out.
“There were specific inputs regarding presence of militants in a residential house. They opened indiscriminate fire sensing the security forces getting closer to them,” a senior police official from the area said.
An army official from south Kashmir-based Victor Force said two militants were gunned down during the encounter and their bodies were retrieved.
“Two weapons have also been recovered. The identity of the militants is being ascertained. The operation is on,” the Army official said.
Local sources said hundreds of people tried marching towards the site of the encounter in a bid to try and save the trapped militants.
“The forces used bullets, pellets and some teargas shells to disperse the protesting people, which included women as well,” a local source said.
Three civilians, two of them girls, were injured in the firing and were rushed to a nearby hospital in the Rajpora area of neighbouring Pulwama district.
“One of them was brought dead with a bullet wound to his chest. Two others have been referred to Pulwama District Hospital,” a doctor at the Primary Health Centre told Kashmir Post.
At the Pulwama hospital, the two injured girls were given first aid and referred to Srinagar for specialised treatment.
The police, however, said the teenager was killed and the girls were injured after they were caught in cross firing.
“They were caught in the exchange of fire between militants and security forces,” Director General of Police SP Vaid told Kashmir Post.
Teenage, Two militants killed, scores injured in Shopian Gunfight
