Two militants, civilian killed in Kulgam encounter

Srinagar: Two militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces overnight in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Kulgam district, officials here said on Monday. A civilian also died reportedly in firing on protesters in the area. Army said two of its jawans were injured during the encounter.

 

The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered a magisterial probe into the killing of the civilian and the security forces damaging residential houses and other properties in unwarranted attacks after the encounter was over as has been alleged by the locals.

 

Reports said that thousands of people turned up at the funeral of militants of Hibz-ul-Mujahedin identified as Javed Ahmed Butt and Idrees Ahmed Nengroo and 23-year-old civilian Asif Ahmed Tantray. 

 

Police said Tantray was hit by a “stray bullet” near the scene of the encounter but locals alleged that he was shot dead by security forces while protests against the killing of militants was under way at a distance from the encounter site. 

During the protests over the killing, irate crowds hurled stones on policemen and the latter responded by using bamboo sticks and bursting teargas canisters.

 

The encounter between the militants holed up in a private house and the security forces started at 7 pm on Sunday and ended around 10 am on Monday, reports said. Defence spokesman said that the two Army jawans injured in the encounter were evacuated to Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar and that the condition of both of them was stated to be stable. The spokesman claimed that one of the slain militants Butt was associated with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.