Damaged houses, homeless families: Shopian gunfight leaves trail of destructions

SRINAGAR:  The three-day encounter, one of the longest since the scrapping of Article 370 on August 5 2019, at Rawalpora village in Shopian in south Kashmir in which two Jaish militants were killed has left behind a trail of destruction. 

At least eight residential houses have been damaged, six of them completely, rendering about 10 families homeless in the gunfight that ended on Monday.

Since Tuesday morning, the youth of the village had been busy dousing the fire and clearing the debris of the houses damaged during the encounter between militants and security forces.

According to locals, six houses have been completely destroyed in the gunfight, while two others were partially damaged.

The police have confirmed that three houses were gutted in the firefight.

“At least 10 families have been rendered homeless by the three-day encounter,” they said.

The locals said one of the houses belongs to 18-year-old Ziyan Mir, who lost his father two years ago and was earning livelihood for the family.

“Ziyan and his uncle were living in the house. Both are very poor. Nothing is left in the house. They have nowhere to go now,” a local said.

Another villager Yasir Ahmad Lone, who had fled from the area after the outbreak of gunfight on Saturday evening, said his uncle’s house was among the properties damaged in the encounter.

“My uncle is a farmer and is not in a position to rebuild the house. He has lost everything,” he said.

Many villagers have started collecting donations to help the families who suffered losses in the gunfight.  

Two JeM militants, including its commander Sajjad Afghani, were killed in the encounter on Monday.

Police prevent four youth from joining militant ranks

The police has prevented four youth from central Kashmir from joining the militant ranks.

A police spokesman said two teenagers had gone missing from their homes in Budgam district on March 14. Police teams were formed to track them.

“The teams came to know that both the they were in Tral area of Pulwama district. Accordingly, the teams went there and managed to trace and recover both the boys,” he said.

Two more youth from Ganderbal district were arrested from Karan Nagar-Batamaloo area and later, handed over to their parents, the police said.