Four militants, two army personnel and a civilian were killed in a fierce gunfight in the wee hours on Sunday at a hideout shared by the banned LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen in a village in south Kashmir. The encounter killing of the four local militants set off a violent protest by the villagers following which the army opened fire causing injuries to 15 civilians, one of whom later died. Acting on specific technical and human intelligence about the presence of militants, security forces swooped down on their hideout at Nagbal village, 70 km south of Srinagar and engaged them in an encounter, leading to their killing.
The state police had alerted the security forces about the presence of militants at the house of a tailor at the village in Kulgam district, a hotbed of militancy. The security forces have achieved a "major success", Director General of Police S P Vaid told. "However, it is unfortunate that two soldiers weremartyred and son of the house owner got caught in the crossfire and succumbed to injuries," he said.
Officials present at the scene said a cordon was thrown around the village by Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police at around 3:30 AM. The contingent moved in to mount the assault after a team of Rashtriya Rifles, a force carved out of the army for counter-insurgency operations, arrived around 4 AM.Initial search at the residence of the tailor did not yield any results. However, a fresh search was made. This time the son of the house owner was asked to show around the places which the security forces may have missed. The team noticed a false ceiling which, upon being forced opened, prompted firing by the militants.
