3 militants killed in Shopian, 1 at Handwara: Police

Srinagar: Four militants were killed in two separate gun battles with forces in Kashmir on Thursday, police said. It said that three militants were gunned down by the forces during a fierce fight in Yawran village of southern Shopian district. They have been identified as Sajad Khanday, Aqib Ahmed Dar and Basharat Ahmed Mir, all residents of neighbouring Pulwama district.
A police spokesman here said that the slain men were part of a combined group of proscribed militant outfits Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). “They were wanted by law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes including attacks on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” the spokesman said.
He further said that the fight broke out during a cordon-and-search operation launched by the security forces after learning about the presence of militants in the village. “Incriminating materials including 3 AK rifles were recovered from the site of encounter,” the spokesman said.
The second gunfight took place during a similar operation in Yaroo village of Langate area of frontier Kupwara district, the police said. “As the searches were going on in the village, the search party was fired upon by the hiding militants.
The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight,” they said, adding that one militant was killed in this clash whose identity is being ascertained. A report from Shopian said that irate crowd, mainly consisting of youth clashed with the security forces during and after the gunfight in Shopian’s Yawran village and its neighbourhood.
Several people were injured as the mobs hurled stone on the security forces who responded by bursting teargas canisters and firing pellet shotguns to quell them, the report said. The mobile internet services in the district were suspended “as a precautionary measure”, the officials said.
Multiple Funerals offered: Multiple rounds of funerals were offered to the slain Bhatnoora Lassipora militant, Aqib Ahmad, on Thursday. Reports said thousands gathered in the area to ‘have last glimpse of Aqib’ and to participate in his last rites.
“Multiple rounds of funeral prayers were performed for the slain militant,” he said. Aqib was killed along with two of his associates in a gunfight in Keller area of Shopian. “Militants appeared in Aqib’s funeral and offered gun salute to their associate,” locals claimed.
Slain Militant Identified as Sopore resident: Police has identified the slain militant as Danish Ahamad Dar a resident of Saidpora Sopore. He was killed in Handwara encounter.