9 Militants, 2 Indian Army Officers Killed in 31 Hr Gunfight

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Oct 3: Nine militants and two Indian army officers were killed in a fierce 31 hour long gunfight in North Kashmir. Four Indian army soldiers were also injured 10 structures damaged in the firefight.

Indian army personnel had laid siege around the forest area of Rangiwala, Tangmarg, some 52 ks from Srinagar yesterday morning to flush out a group of militants hiding there. During the combing operation, the heavily armed militants fired from sophisticated weapons towards the army personnel. The Indian soldiers retaliated and the fierce exchange of fire between the militants and the soldiers continued until this afternoon.

A top police officer of North Kashmir, Vipluv Kumar told News Blaze that nine militants and two Army officers were killed in the 31-hour long encounter. Four army personnel and a civilian were injured in the gunfight, he said. The injured army personnel were evacuated to army's base hospital at Badamibagh Cantonment for specialized treatment.

The identity of the militants and the outfit to which they owed allegiance is being ascertained. "It seems that the militant group might have managed to infiltrate into this side of Kashmir from the Pakistan side of Kashmir. Before splitting in small groups and moving to other parts of Valley, they were confronted by the army personnel", police sources said. They said that the militant group might have infiltrated to this side of Kashmir on September 30 from the Gurez sector in North Kashmir.

Police sources said that to overcome the tough resistance presented by the militants, the soldiers fired dozens of mortar shells towards their positions. At least 10 residential houses were damaged in the 31-hour long gunfight.

Meanwhile, an Indian army spokesperson in Srinagar, Col A K Mathur confirmed the killing of nine militants and two Army officers in the gunfight. He identified the two deceased army officers as Major K P Vinay of Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Major D R Raman of Chennai. Major Vijay was to get married on 29th of this month.

Col Mathur said that bodies of nine militants were recovered along with large quantity of arms and ammunition. "The search operation of the area is going on", he added.

This is the first major encounter of its nature in Valley this year in which 11 lives have been lost.

Meanwhile, Indian army personnel shot dead a militant owing allegiance to Pakistan based militant group, Albadar during a brief gunfight at Rakh Litter in North Kashmir, this morning. The slain militant was identified as Fayaz Mir alias Junaidul Islam alias Amir Fayaz. An AK rifle and two magazines were recovered from the site of encounter.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.

   _   _