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| Militants carry out attack from North to South Kashmir, 21 killed | | Army's field unit comes under attack in Uri, two civilians killed in grenade attack at Tral | |  Two militants killed in Soura
Jehangir Rashid/
Syed Tahir Bukhari
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Dec 5: Close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kashmir militants struck at four different places in the Valley. Twenty one persons including eight Army personnel, eight militants, three cops and two civilians were killed in these incidents that occurred right from North to South Kashmir.
The deadliest incident took place near the Uri town in the border district of Baramulla where militants attacked an Army camp in the wee hours today. Seventeen persons lost their lives in the incident that caught the attention of people more so in wake of PM Modi's visit to the Kashmir valley. The PM is scheduled to address an election rally here in the summer capital of the state on December 8, Monday.
Elsewhere, two militants were killed in an encounter with police and security forces in the Awanta Bhawan locality near Soura in the outskirts of Srinagar city. Two civilians lost their lives at Tral in South Kashmir's Pulwama district after militants lobbed a grenade in the main market.
Reports from Baramulla said that six to seven militants attacked an Army camp at Mohra, Uri in the wee hours of Friday killing an army officer along with seven soldiers and three cops including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI). Six militants were killed in retaliation by the troops.
The attack on the 32 Field Regiment in Uri sector of Baramulla district in North Kashmir which is considered as a field ordnance camp of the army at Mohra Uri, killed 17 people including a lieutenant colonel, assistant sub-inspector of police and six Pakistani militants.
A senior Army official who was part of the operation told Early Times that it was a 'fidayeen' (suicide) attack. The army officer said that exact number of militants is not known all the militants believed to be Pakistanis.
"They killed three police men on the road outside the Army camp, ASI Mohammad Akbar Lone, head constable Abdul Majeed and constable Sanjay Koul. It is believed they entered the camp from the gate through the road which lacks a concrete boundary," the army official said.
The army official said that Lt Colonel Sankalap Kumar of 24 Punjab Regiment of Raipur was also killed in the exchange of fire besides three other soldiers. He added that five militants were killed in the initial burst and a combing operation was launched to flush out the remaining militants.
"The infiltrators were divided into two groups, one group entered the Army camp and the other engaged the troops at the gate. The operation against the militants was led by Lt Col Gurawah Jain and Lt Col Surinder Singh. The militants were armed with AK-47 rifles and hand grenades," said the army official.
In a statement, Srinagar based defence spokesman said that a group of heavily armed and well equipped militants opened a heavy volume of fire with automatic weapons at an Army Camp in Mohura at around 3 AM today. Army troops from within the Camp retaliated immediately and engaged the militants.
"The troops from neighbouring camps, who were already in a state of high alert, immediately mobilized their QRTs, rushing to the site and surrounding the area. In the ensuing fire fight, all six foreign militants were eliminated. The encounter between the Army and the group of militants lasted just over six hours," said the defence spokesman.
The defence spokesman said that during the initial part of operation, one militant opened fire on the vehicles of the QRT of the neighbouring unit rushing to the site, in which one gypsy went off the road and overturned, leading to casualties among the security forces. He said the militant was immediately eliminated by the troops of the QRT and his body was recovered.
"During the operation, a barrack also caught fire, presumably because of a kerosene heater toppling, in which some soldiers got trapped. The operations continued relentlessly and by 9.30 AM, the militants were eliminated. During the deliberate clearing up operations which commenced thereafter, the bodies of five more militants were recovered, bringing the total to six militants eliminated," said the defence spokesman.
The defence spokesman said that during the intense operations, one officer and seven soldiers of the Army, one ASI and two constable of the JKP laid down their lives. He said that six AK rifles with 55 Magazines, two shotguns, 2 Night Vision Binoculars, 4 Radio Sets, 32 unused Grenades, 1 Medical Kit and a large quantity of miscellaneous warlike stores were recovered from the slain militants. He said that army is continuing the operation in the surrounding areas to search out any militant who may still be hiding or attempting to escape.
Meanwhile, Jammu & Kashmir Police killed two militants in an encounter in Soura area of Srinagar City this afternoon. The killed militants included one wanted commander of Lashker-I -Toiba.
Police officials said that this afternoon militants fired upon a police patrolling party in Awanta Bhawan area of police station Soura on the outskirts of Srinagar city. The fire was returned and in the retaliatory fire, one militant got killed while another one took shelter in a shed. The Police and CRPF engaged the militant in a gunfight who started firing from the shed. In this encounter this militant also got killed.
"One of the killed militants has been identified as Qari Asrar of Lashker-I-Toiba who was functioning as district commander of the said outfit. Qari Asrar was an active member of LeT central Kashmir Huraira Group. He was involved in number of militant related incidents including one attack on Hotel Silver Star on Nowgam Bye-pass on October 19, 2012. He was also involved in launching the militants particularly in South Kashmir," said a police spokesman.
Arms and ammunition including two AK rifles and seven magazines and some hand grenades have been recovered from the encounter site.
In the meantime, two civilians were killed and 24 others including a jawan of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were injured when suspected militants hurled a grenade in crowded market at Tral town of South Kashmir's Pulwama district on Friday afternoon.
Reports said that at around 3: 15 pm, a grenade was hurled in Tral town near Bus Stand which exploded with a huge bang resulting in injuries to 26 persons. Witnesses said the grenade created panic across with injured lying down in pool of blood.
The injured persons were immediately shifted to Sub-District Hospital Tral for treatment. The security forces cordoned off the vast area and stated searches to nab the grenade throwers. The critically injured persons were shifted to Srinagar hospitals for specialized treatment.
Officials said that one of the injured persons succumbed to his injuries at SDH Tral while as six among the 25 injured were critical and were shifted to Srinagar. Later, one of the serious injured succumbed. A CRPF jawan was among the injured and he sustained minor injuries.
A police spokesman said that militants hurled a grenade at Tral Bus stand, which resulted in injuries to 11 civilians. Two civilians among the injured namely Ghula Hassan Gojri aged about 60 years S/o M Abdullah R/o Zajikhud Tral and Mohammad Shafi Gojar aged about 27 years son of Mohammed Jamal resident of Dodhmarg succumbed to injuries.
There was panic near the Shopian police station when it was said that a grenade has been lobbed towards the police station. The grenade however did not explode and as such there were no injuries. Police officials however denied that any grenade has been thrown towards the police station. |
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