Two LeT militants, jawan killed in J&K firefight

Srinagar: Two militants allegedly associated with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and an Army jawan were killed and a policeman was injured in a fierce gunbattle in Dursoo village outside Jammu and Kashmir’s north-western town of Sopore on Friday.

The killing of the militant duo sparked protests in the area, forcing the authorities to use force against stone-pelting mobs and also snap Internet services.

Meanwhile, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan and a special police officer of the J&K police were injured in a grenade explosion in southern Anantnag district. LeT has owned responsibility for carrying out the attack.

The police identified militants slain in Dursoo fire fight as LeT’s Riyaz Ahmed Dar and Khursheed Ahmed Malik and the soldier as Sawar Vijay Kumar.

SSP Sopore Javaid Iqbal said that the security forces launched a search operation at Dursoo in Dangiwacha area of Sopore late Thursday night after receiving “credible inputs” about the presence of militants in the village. “While the search operation was underway an effort was made to persuade the hiding militants to surrender but they were unrelenting and fired up on the search party initiating a gunfight,” he said.

In the ensuing encounter both the militants were killed, the officer said, adding that the per preliminary investigations revealed that they were local Kashmiris belonging to the LeT.

The official said that an Army jawan and a policeman were injured during the clash and that the former succumbed to his injuries in a Srinagar hospital. A report from Dursoo said that the militants had been trapped inside a private house and that the clash erupted at 9.15 am on Friday. The house suffered extensive damage during the fire fight, the report said.

Amid heightening tensions and protests by surging crowds, the authorities ordered closure of all educational institutions in Sopore and surrounding areas.