Six militants killed in Kashmir encounter

Six militants were killed in a gunfight with the Army in a forest range of Kupwara district, more than 110 km from Srinagar, on Thursday.

Reports suggest that the gunfight started in the morning when 18 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off the Dobwan forest area at 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 gun battle. “Six militants were killed and the bodies have been recovered,” said Army spokesman Colonel N.N. Joshi. The identity of the militants could not be immediately ascertained.

The militants were carrying AK-47 rifles and other warlike stores, he added.

Part of armed group
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The security agencies suspect that the 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 managed to enter the Valley on June 14 in the Kupwara Machhil sector.

The killings come just four days after a Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, Abu Ukasa, was arrested in the Lolab area of Kupwara.