Three Hizbul Mujahideen militants and a policeman died in a gun-battle at Mandoora village in south Kashmir’s Tral area on Monday afternoon. The encounter was part of the security forces’ sustained chase of militants who had killed four Rashtriya Rifles jawans in an ambush in Buchoo village of the same area on May 24.
Police sources said that the Army assisted by the Central Reserve Police Force and local police cordoned off Mandoora village, 45 kms south from here, in the wee hours of Monday following a tip-off about presence of militants there.
Shortly after the village was sealed off, an exchange of fire began between the holed-up militants and the security forces. In the initial firing, one policeman Mushtaq Ahmad sustained bullet injuries and later succumbed to injuries. Two policemen and one soldier from the CRPF and the Army also sustained injuries.
The security forces shot dead one militant in the initial contact but other guerrillas engaged them for a longer period. The heavy exchange of fire continued for several hours.
Police sources said that three Hizbul Mujahideen militants - Shabir Ahmad, Aijaz Ahmad laway and Shahnawaz Ahmad - have been killed in the encounter. All the slain militants belonged to the Tral area, which was once known as the hotbed of militancy.
However, the number of militants had drastically gone down in the region due to sustained pressure from security forces and less number of fresh recruitments. Hundreds of people shouting ‘pro-azadi’ slogans came out on streets to claim the bodies of the slain militants. The authorities imposed restrictions in the area after the gun-battle drew towards close.
A residential house where the militants were holed up has been razed to ground, sources said. The encounter was raging till last reports came in from the area.
The security forces were in a tizzy in the area since May 24 when Hizbul Mujahideen militants ambushed a patrolling party of Rashtriya Rifles in Buchoo Kamla forests killing four soldiers. The militants also took away the weapons of the martyred soldiers.