Three militants were killed in a gunfight with the Army in a forest range of Kupwara district more than 110 km away from Srinagar, on Thursday. Preliminary reports suggest that a gunfight started on Thursday morning when the Army’s 18 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off the Dobwan forest area, Khurhama. As the security forces zeroed in on the area occupied by the militants, a volley of bullets were fired at the search party.
A police official said the hiding militants were engaged in a gunbattle. ““Three militants were killed and the bodies have been recovered,” said a police official. The militants were carrying AK-47-rifles and other warlike stores, he added.
The Army is yet to confirm the casualty officially. The security agencies suspect that these militants could be a part of the heavily armed group engaged by security forces on June 15, in which one militant was killed. A group has managed to entered the Valley on June 14 in Kupwara Machhil Sector.
The killings also come just four days after Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant, Abu Ukasa, was arrested in Kupwara’s Lolab area.
