Srinagar, Apr 5: In the second major encounter in Indian administered Kashmir in as many weeks, five militants were killed in a fierce gunfight with Indian soldiers on Thursday.
“Five militants have been killed in an ongoing operation in a forest area near Zachaldara village of Handwara, some 100 kms North of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir,” a police spokesman said.
Giving details of the encounter, he said as the soldiers were closing in on the location of militants in the morning, the militants opened fire on the search party. “The fire was returned by the soldiers and in the ensuing gunfight, five militants were killed,” he said.
He said identity and group affiliation of the deceased militants could not be ascertained immediately as a search operation was still in progress.
This is the second major encounter in Handwara during the past eight days. On March 28, five Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in a gunfight with troops in the same area.
