Three militants killed, Army officer injured in Kashmir

Srinagar, June 22 : Three local Lashker-e-Toiba militants were killed and an Army officer was injured in an overnight gunfight in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The gunfight had erupted late Wednesday at Kakpora, nearly 30 km from Srinagar, when joint teams of the police, Army and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search operation following input on militants’ presence. “As the searches were launched in the area, militants opened fire, which was retaliated, triggering a gunfight. In the exchange that continued for many hours, three local Lashkar militants were killed and a Major was injured,” a police officer in south Kashmir said. Two Rifles and ammunition were also seized from the site.Sources identified the three slain militants as Majid Mir, Shakir Ahmed and Irshad, all residents of Pulwama. Clashes also broke during the operation and youth pelted stones at the forces to disrupt the operation. The police had to fire teargas shells to disperse the protesters. After the encounter broke, the authorities suspended the Internet service in Pulwama district late last evening. The situation was tense in the district.