Municipal councillor, police guard killed in militant attack in J&K

SRINAGAR:  A municipal councilor and a police guard were killed and another councilor was injured in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir's north-western town of Sopore, 48-km from here, on Monday.

A report said that the slain councilor represented BJP in the Sopore municipality and that he and others had arrived at its office for a scheduled meeting minutes before the attack took place.

The police said that gunmen targetted the Sopore municipal office with automatic weapons on Monday afternoon, injuring three persons. They were rushed to a nearby hospital where councilor Reyaz Ahmad Peer and Special Police Officer (SPO) Shafqat Nazir Khan succumbed to their injuries and another councilor Shamas Din Peer was battling for life. The injured councilor has since been shifted to a Srinagar hospital for specialized treatment, the hospital sources said.

J&K police tweeted "#Terrorists fired at Municipal Office #Sopore. In this #terror incident, police personnel Shafqat Ahmad & councillor Riyaz Ahmad got #martyred & councillor Shams-ud-din Peer got injured. Injured shifted to hospital for treatment. Area cordoned off & further details shall follow." End it