Army man killed in Handwara gunfight, Woman shot dead in Drabgam Pulwama

Srinagar: A soldier was on Friday morning killed in a brief exchange fire during a cordon and search operation in Kachlu Kralgund area of North Kashmir’s Handwara town and in a similar militancy related incident a woman was shot dead in Drabgam Pulwama.
Officials said that following the inputs about the presence of militants in the area the sleuths of 32 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off Kachlu village in the wee hour, but as soon as the operation started, militants opened fire on soldiers resulting in injuries to a soldier who succumbed to his injuries later in the day.
‘There was a brief shootout after which militants escaped from the spot. The operation was called off after massive search operation’ , said the officials.
Meanwhile militants on Friday morning also managed to escape from Mir Mohalla area of Hajin Banidpora .Reports said that a joint team of army’s 13 RR, SOG and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation in the locality following specific inputs about the presence of some militants.
The locals clashed with government forces who retaliated with tear-smoke shelling. There was also exchange of fire between militants and Forces after which militants escaped from the spot.
In another militancy related incident the unidentified gunmen Friday afternoon shot dead a middle aged woman in Drabgam village of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Officials said a couple of suspected militants appeared in Drabgam village and targeted Shameema Begum (40), wife of Ali Muhammad Bhat. Shameema who hails from Koil village had arrived in the village to meet her parents. She received a couple of bullets and succumbed to her injuries in the hospital.
The official said that a case has been registered and investigation taken up to track down the assailants.
Witnesses said that shortly after the incident a large number of troopers and soldiers rushed to village to assess the situation.