Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed and two army soldiers wounded in an encounter with security forces in Drabgam village of Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday.
A civilian was also killed in clashes near the encounter site.
The gunfight was triggered in the morning after police, CRPF and army surrounded a place in Drabgam based on inputs about presence of militants, officials said.
State director general of police, S P Vaid identified the two slain militants as Sameer Tiger and Aquib, both residents of Pulwama. He said Tiger was involved in killings of a number of civilians, including BJP worker Ghulam Nabi Patel on April 25.
An army officer and a soldier were also wounded in the gunfight.
A civilian , Shahid Dar, was also killed and at least 25 others were wounded in clashes between stone-throwing youth and security forces near the encounter site.
A senior health official of Pulwama district said 25 wounded were brought to the district hospital in Pulwama. 10 of them were referred to Srinagar for advanced treatment.
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, in a joint statement, called for a complete shutdown on Tuesday against the “unabated killings” and “injuries to unarmed people”.
{{/usCountry}}Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, in a joint statement, called for a complete shutdown on Tuesday against the “unabated killings” and “injuries to unarmed people”.
{{/usCountry}}On April 24, four JeM militants, a policeman and an army soldier were killed in an encounter in Tral area.
At least 38 persons have died in different incidents in Kashmir in April this year, including today’s incident. The dead include 20 militants, 12 civilians and six security forces personnel.