Srinagar, June 2: Six militants including a top commander of the Pakistan based militant group, Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in three separate gunfights in Kashmir.
A top police officer said that Indian army and police personnel launched a combing operation at Chunitpora, Handwara in North Kashmir on Monday morning after receiving inputs that some Pakistani militants were hiding there. “As we zeroed-in on the militant hide-out, they fired from sophisticated weapons towards the soldiers. The fire was returned and in the ensuing gunfight, which lasted for more than four hours, two Lashkar militants were killed,” he said.
He identified the slain militants as Usman Bhai and Abu Jibran. “Usman Bhai was top commander of the Pakistan based militant group and was involved in militant violence for the past few years,” he said.
In another gunfight, Indian army, police and para-military personnel killed two more Pakistani militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba. The gunfight took place at Watergam, Rafiabad, some 70 kms from summer capital Srinagar. The soldiers, according to top police officer, did not suffer any casualties during the gunfight.
The slain militants were identified as Abu Khalid alias Haji and Abu Marjaheed alias Abdullah, both Pakistani nationals. He claimed that some arms and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site.
A top police officer of North Kashmir, Anand Jain told NewsBlaze that on specific information police launched a combing operation to flush out Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militants from Bandipora in North Kashmir. He said that during the combing operation, militants armed with sophisticated weapons fired towards the soldiers. The fire was returned and in the ensuing gunfight, which lasted for more than six hours, two Harkat militants were killed. A house, where the militants were firing on troops was gutted in the encounter. The slain militants were identified Rahim Ullah and Chota Sajad, both Pakistani nationals.
