Three unidentified militants and a militant ‘associate’ were killed in two separate encounters in south Kashmir in the past 24 hours, while six civilians and one Army Major were injured.
A Srinagar-based Army spokesman said three unidentified terrorists were killed in the Lower Munda operation. The operation was launched after an Army patrol came under fire from militants during a search operation.
One residential house, in which militants took shelter, was damaged by explosives used by the security forces to flush out militants.
Six civilians, including two minors, suffered injuries when an unattended explosive went off after the security forced called off the operation. “Two critically injured were shifted to two different hospitals in Anantnag and Srinagar for surgeries,” an official said.
The injured were identified as Sameer Ahmed Beigh, Mehran Ahmed Ganai, Syed Zubair Ahmed, and Khurshid Ahmed, all residents of Lower Munda, and Akash Ayub and Abvaid Beigh from Qazigund.
Lower Munda area in south Kashmir's Kulgam district is considered a gateway of the Kashmir valley. The Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which connects the Valley with rest of the country, passes through the area.
Meanwhile, a Srinagar-based police spokesman said a body of an unknown terrorist 'associate' along with a pistol and a grenade was recovered from the site of encounter in Kulgam's Chehlan- Asthal, where a gunfight broke out on Sunday evening.
“In view of inputs regarding terrorists planning to abduct and murder police personnel, exhaustive domination was being carried out by joint forces in Kulgam. Arounf 8 p.m., one patrolling party of joint forces was attacked by terrorists numbering four to six in between villages Chehlan and Asthal,” said the police.
The police said due to expansive area of search, undulating terrain and total darkness, a search was carried out on Monday morning. "A trail of blood was found leading out of the search area, which proves that apart from the terrorist associate killed, one or more terrorists were injured. The search for injured terrorists continue," the police said.
The police said besides arms, six mobile SIM cards were also recovered from the pocket of the slain militant associate.
The police said an Army Major also suffered bullet injuries in his legs and was shifted to a hospital, "where his condition is stated to be stable".
Kashmir saw stepped up operation in south Kashmir, resulting in eight gunfights in the past 10 days and killing of around 10 militants.