Three Army jawans die in Shopian ambush

Srinagar: Three Army jawans were killed and five others, including two officers, were wounded in a militant ambush in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district overnight, officials here said on Thursday.

A woman resident also died after being hit by a “stray bullet” during the brief exchange of fire between the two sides. The two injured officers are Lt. Col. Mukesh Jha and Major Amardeep Singh, the Army sources said.

The soldiers were returning from a search operation when the militants attacked their convoy, injuring six, three of whom later died, defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said. The slain men are Lance Naik Ghulam Mohiuddin Rather, a resident of Punchpora village in neighbouring Anantnag district, Sapper Sreejith MJ from Palakkad district of Kerala and Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar from district Karouli of Rajasthan.

J&K police in a statement issued here said  that acting on information, a cordon-and-search  operation was carried out by the Army’s 44 Rashtriya Rifles and local police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) at Kungnoo in Shopian which, however, “concluded without any arrest or recovery.” It added, “While returning from Kungnoo, the cordon-and-search operation party was attacked by unknown militants at Mulu Chitragam at about 2 am, resulting in injuries to six Army personnel, including two officers of whom three succumbed to their injuries”. 

The statement further said that a woman resident Taja, wife of Ghulam Mohammed Mir of Mulu, “who was hit by a stray bullet inside her house during the crossfire also succumbed to her injuries”. 

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for carrying out the attack. Hizb spokesperson Burhanuddin telephoned reporters to claim that five Army personnel were killed and seven others injured in the ambush.

Reports from Shopian said that with the first light of morning, reinforcements from the Army, J&K police and CRPF laid siege to a vast area around Chitragam to start searches. The local sources said the militants, after carrying out the attack, fled from the area. However, the police took four locals, identified as Bashir Ahmed Wani, Majid Ahmed Wani, Shaheen Ahmed and Muhammad Ayun Mir into custody during searches, reports said. The locals have alleged that the security forces during the search operation ransacked their homes and damaged stationary vehicles besides misbehaving with several people. The police denied the charge.

For some time, the security forces particularly the Army are suffering higher casualties in clashes with militants in Kashmir. During past fortnight, six Army personnel including Major S. Dhaiya died  and more than fifteen security personnel were injured in three separate counterinsurgency operations conducted in the districts of Kulgam, Bandipore and Kupwara. Eight militants and one civilian were also killed in these incidents.

Meanwhile, several protesters were injured in security forces’ teargas and shotgun pellet firing in Palhalan township of north-western Baramulla district on Thursday. Reports said that the security forces went to the area to start a search operation but locals came out of their homes and resisted them, leading to clashes.