Two Army personnel, a major and a soldier, were killed when militants opened fire at a search party in South Kashmir’s Shopian district in the wee hours of Thursday. A soldier was also injured in the shooting.
According to police sources , the incident occurred after the Army launched a cordon-and-search operation at Zaipora on Wednesday night. They had received intelligence inputs that a few militants were hiding there.
As the search operation was underway, the militants began firing suddenly taking the army by surprise. “Three Army personnel were critically injured, and had to be rushed to the 92 base hospital. While two of them succumbed to their injuries, the third is still undergoing treatment,” the officer added. Army is closing in on the holed militants to eliminate them.
In a related incident, two militants were killed by security forces in an encounter at Kulgam district’s Gopalpora earlier that morning. “One of the slain men was involved in the killing of five policemen and guards of a bank van at Phambai a few months ago,” a police spokesperson said, adding that two weapons have been recovered.
The militants’ identities are yet to be disclosed.
