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Militants gun down three children in J&K

By Shujaat Bukhari

JAMMU DEC. 22. In yet another gruesome act, militants killed three children at a village in Poonch district and in an encounter that followed, two of the assailants were gunned down.

Heavily armed militants barged into the house of Munshi Khan in Samoot village of Surankot in Poonch district last night and opened fire, killing his sons, four-year-old Irfan Hussian, Asim Mohammed, aged six, and 12-year-old Nazarat.

Mr. Khan and another woman were injured in the firing. The militants also entered the house of another resident, Haji Abdullah, in the locality, but no loss of life was reported.

Police sources said the same group had first attacked the Surankot police station with grenades and rockets last night and after police engaged them in a gun battle for hours, they escaped under the cover of darkness and moved towards Samoot village, where they targeted the family of Munshi Khan.

The Jammu IGP, P.L. Gupta, said the security forces had launched a search operation and in a fierce battle between the security forces and the militants at Malhan area, five of them were killed. Police said preliminary investigation revealed that the slain men belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

This is the third incident of innocent civilians being targeted by militants during the last three days. On Thursday, three girls were killed in Rajouri, and on Friday night, four of a family were killed in a village near Sopore.

PTI reports:

A powerful blast brought down a microwave tower and damaged a telephone exchange building in Baramulla district in north Kashmir late last night. Militants had planted an IED under the microwave tower at Wagoora village and the explosion caused extensive damage to the tower and the building.

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