Security forces at the site of the gunfight. (Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi)A gunfight between militants and security forces in north Kashmir’s Baramulla ended on Tuesday evening after 30 hours, resulting in the death of a militant and two soldiers, officials said. With this, the death toll in the encounter has risen to eight — three militants, two soldiers, two paramilitary personnel and a policeman.
“One more terrorist killed, two soldiers were critically injured and have succumbed,” Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said. “Two AK 47 (rifles) and three pistols recovered.”
On Monday morning, two CRPF men and a policeman were killed when militants attacked a joint security checkpoint of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF at Baramulla’s Kreeri area. The joint team immediately cordoned off the area and was joined by the Army, and in the gunfight, two militants were killed. After it grew dark, the forces suspended the operation, resuming it on Tuesday morning after the surviving militant opened fire.
J&K Police have identified militant killed on Tuesday as Usman, a Pakistani national and a top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander. They said he was one of the two militants who killed BJP leader Waseem Bari, his father and his brother in Bandipore in July.
One of the militants killed on Monday included Sopore resident Sajad Ahmad Mir, himself a top LeT commander.
“Sajjad @ Haider and one of killer (foreign terrorist Usman) of BJP leader Late Waseem Bari, his father & brother killed,” the official Twitter handle of the Kashmir Zone Police posted, quoting IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar.
Incidentally, police on July 12 had claimed to have killed Usman and two more militants in an operation in Sopore’s Reban village. Police had said that Usman was involved in the firing on paramilitary forces, resulting in the death of a CRPF man and a civilian.