Three militants were killed in a counter-militancy operation in Sopore in north Kashmir on Saturday. Three civilians were hit by bullets as the Army tried to contain a protest after these deaths in Bandipora.
A senior police official said the militants were hiding in the Amargarh area. “The operation was started around midnight. The hiding militants opened fire on the joint search party, triggering an encounter. During the encounter, three militants of the Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed,” Superintendent of Police Harmeet Singh Mehta said.
Three AK-74 rifles and magazines were recovered from the encounter site.
The slain militants were identified as Javaid Ahmed Dar of Khanpora in Baramulla; Abid Hamid Mir of Hajin in Bandipora; and Danish Ahmed of Sopore.
The killings sparked protests in north Kashmir, forcing the authorities to close down schools in Baramulla and Bandipora districts. Mobile phone and Internet services were withdrawn.
Clashes erupt
Major clashes erupted in parts of Bandipora and Baramulla, where security forces imposed restrictions. Three civilians received bullet wounds as the Army resorted to firing in the Sadarkoot Bala area following a major stone-throwing incident.
The injured, identified as Hilal Ahmed Wani, Latief Ahmed Khan and Suhail Ahmed Bhat, all residents of Saderkoot Bala, were shifted to a Srinagar hospital.
Students of Islamia College for Arts and Commerce in Srinagar held a demonstration against the killings in north Kashmir. The police foiled the students’ bid to come out of the campus.
In south Kashmir, the Army resorted to warning shots in Anantang district, where an Army cavalcade came under attack from stone throwers. “There was massive stone-throwing on the Srinagar-Anantang road near Wanpouh and the Army exercised maximum restraint to avoid collateral damage,” said an Army spokesman.
The valley-based militant Zakir Musa on Saturday confirmed his allegiance to the Al-Qaeda chapter, called Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, in Kashmir, in a two-minute audio.
Musa’s audio
Hailing Abu Dujana, a militant killed in an operation in Pulwama recently along with his associate Arif Lelhari, Musa said, "In the making of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, they played a key role and became first martyrs of this movement.”
Musa, a resident of Tral in Pulwama, said, “When Dujana joined us, the so-called bosses of jihad in Pakistan placed a number of hurdles for him.” The statement again brought to the fore a major split in the militants ranks in Kashmir as the United Jehad Council (UJC) and Musa’s faction compete against each other in a turf war. Musa left the Hizbul Mujahideen earlier this year after he called for “hanging of separatist leaders in public” and sought support for an “Islamic caliphate”.
The police said they were confirming the veracity of the audio that went viral on social media in the past 24 hours.
