Srinagar: At least, four separatist militants were gunned down by the security forces during a fierce gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Kulgam district. In a separate clash in the same district, an Army jawan laid down his life, officials said.
The J&K police and Army sources said that the identities of the four militants killed in the gunfight in Kulgam’s Frisal Chinnigam area are being ascertained. Confirming the killing of four militants, a police officer told this newspaper over the phone from Kulgam, “The encounter is still going on. Four terrorists have been neutralised, so far. Their identification can be ascertained once the operation is over.”
The officer said that the armed clash occurred after a joint team of the Army, the J&K police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) moved in the area to flush out militants. “The security agencies had received specific input about the presence of terrorists in the area. They laid cordon to the area and launched a search operation. While the cordon-and-search-operation was on, the terrorists opened fire at the security forces who returned it, leading to the encounter,” he added.
Earlier one Army jawan was critically wounded in the militants’ firing in the district’s Modergam village. He was rushed to a nearby medical facility, but he succumbed to his injuries soon, the officials said.
One report said that the gunfight took place between the militants and the security forces following the initial firing by the former. Another report said that the assailants fled from the area after targeting a patrolling party of the Army at Modergam following which the security forces launched a massive search operation in a vast area.
However, the Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps-also known as Chinar Corps- in a post on ‘X’, said, “ Based on specific intelligence input regarding presence of terrorists, a Joint Operation was launched by #IndianArmy & @JmuKmrPolice today in Modargham area of Kulgam. Cordon established and firefight ensued.”
