Killed militants were planning attack ahead of R-Day

Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Jan 25: A boy was injured today in South Kashmir’s Shopian district when an unexploded shell went off at Chaigund village where two militants were killed by security forces yesterday while Army said that the killed militants were planning attack ahead of Republic Day.
An unexploded shell went off at Chaigund Shopian resulting in the injuries to a minor boy Musharraf Ahmad. He was immediately shifted to Pulwama district hospital where from he was referred to SKIMS Soura in serious condition.
Two militants and a civilian were killed and two teenage girls injured during the gunfight in the village yesterday.
A complete spontaneous shutdown was observed in twin districts of Pulwama and Shopian and its adjoining areas against the killings.
Shops and other business establishments remained closed in these areas while public transport was off the roads. Authorities snapped internet services in Pulwama and Shopian districts since yesterday, while as railway authorities suspended train service to south Kashmir today.
The two militants were also buried today amid protests in their respective villages. The deceased militants have been identified as Sameer Ahmad Wani son of Hilal Ahmad of Chaigund Adou and Firdous Ahmad Lone son of Abdul Rashid of Ganapora.
In the meantime, two girls, injured yesterday have been operated upon at SKIMS Soura where their condition is stated to be stable.

Click here to Watch Video
Commander 12 Sector RR Brigadier Harbir Sigh,  while giving inputs about yesterday’s operation in Shopian said that militants were               planning attack and were being tracked by the security forces.
“We had Inputs that terrorist might be planning to strike on the security forces before the Republic Day. As you are aware during last one week they have attempted some grenade attacks, firing at the Police Stations and movement of security forces. With this background we had increased surveillance of the area and were closely monitoring the movement of these militants from last some days”, Brigadier Singh said.
He said: “Yesterday at around 1700 hours in the evening we got specific inputs about the presence of militants in a house and immediately the operation was launched. Five- six houses were cordoned and locals were told to move out safely. When the locals were moving out, the cordon party found suspicious movement of some 8-10 Burkha clad women. When the women approached closer, the Army found that the terrorist who were also wearing burka were trying to take cover behind the women and move out.
The cordon party immediately challenged the terrorists who opened fire and used the women as human shields. To ensure the safety of the civilians, Army fired some shots in the air and the militants rushed back and hid themselves in a cowshed. The cordon was immediately established around the cowshed and they brought out heavy firing on the Army which resulted in an intense encounter which continued for about an hour and a half. At the end both the militants were neutralized and both the bodies recovered. One Insas riffle and an AK 47 were also recovered”.
“Definitely, as we had some inputs those terrorists were planning a major strike. We knew that this group was moving around. This group was involved in the firing of Police Station Shopian and killing of a teacher at Gatipora area of Shopian a month back”, he said.
“Yes we also had this input. And this new trend of militants wearing a burka is challenging for us. Since one of the militants was a local and there were more stone pelting during the operation”, he added.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here