Three militants killed in encounter in J-K’s Uri

Three militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in north Kashmir’s Uri area, near the Line of Control (LoC) on Sunday morning, a senior police officer said.

Police said preliminary investigations have revealed that the slain militants were members of the banned terror-outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), adding that a major terror attack has been averted with the killing of the three militants.

The gun battle in Uri, in Baramulla district, ensued when army on Saturday night spotted a suspicious movement of militants in the Kalgai area and laid a cordon.

Sources said many villagers, who were trapped in the cordon, were safely evacuated, a senior police officer said.

An army official said, “Terrorists have been cordoned, and operations are in progress.”

In another incident, three security personnel suffered minor injuries when militants lobbed a grenade at their vehicle at Sopore Chowk in the state’s Baramulla district on Sunday morning.

Two policemen and a CRPF jawans were injured in the grenade explosion.

According to a police spokesperson, an alert special police officer (SPO) threw away the grenade that landed inside their vehicle to a safer place, saving lives of many security personnel and civilians.

The border town of Uri had made headlines in September last year when four militants had entered an army camp and killed 19 soldiers, before being gunned down.