Five militants killed, two Army men injured in Kupwara gunfight

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 21

Five unidentified militants were killed and two soldiers of the Army’s counter-insurgency units injured in a seven-hour gunfight with militants in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district today.

The gunfight erupted at Check Drugmulla in Kupwara, nearly 100 km from Srinagar,  this morning when joint teams of the Special Operation Group of the J&K Police, Army’s 41 and 47 Rashtriya Rifles battalions and CRPF started a search operation after an input about the presence of militants in the area.

As the search started, the militants, who were hiding in an abandoned house in the village, opened fire. As the forces retaliated, it triggered a gunfight.

“In the seven-hour-long gunfight, five militants were killed. They were most probably from the Jaish-e-Mohammad,” said Deputy Inspector General of Police, north Kashmir Uttam Chand. He said it was being investigated whether the slain militants had infiltrated recently or had been active in the area.

Defence spokesman Col NN Joshi said two Army men were injured in the gunfight and there condition was stable. “We recovered five weapons from the encounter site,” he said.

Sources said the area was cordoned off on Friday night after an input that a group of recently infiltrated militants was hiding in the village.

“The group of militants had infiltrated recently and one of the members was killed in a gunfight in the Zunreishi Chowkibal forest on May 17. They managed to escape that day and we were tracking them. We zeroed in on them at Check Drugmulla, around 25 km from the Zunrerishi encounter site,” the sources said.

Kupwara had remained a key infiltration route of militants to enter the Valley. In the recent past, militants had stepped up efforts to sneak into the Valley.

There were intelligence inputs that nearly 200 militants had been waiting to infiltrate from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Sources in the security establishment said around 20 militants had infiltrated into the Valley this year till April. Last year, Union Home Ministry figures stated that 35 militants had infiltrated into Kashmir.

The latest infiltration bid was foiled in north Kashmir’s Uri sector on Friday. The sources said a group of militants tried to infiltrate via Kamalkote in Uri, which witnessed a ceasefire violation by the Pakistani army four days ago.

The sources said when militants were trying to sneak into the Valley, they were noticed and challenged by the Army. They fled to the Kamalkote sector without opening fire.

The Army later recovered some jackets, blankets, rucksacks and other war-like stores from the area. A total of 44 militants have been killed across the Valley this year so far.