E-Paper
2 top Lashkar men killed in gunbattle
After the killing of two Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) militants after a 22-hour gunbattle in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk area on Thursday, two more suspected Lashkar men were killed on Thursday in a gunbattle in Pampore in south Kashmir.
After the killing of two Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) militants after a 22-hour gunbattle in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk area on Thursday, two more suspected Lashkar men were killed on Thursday in a gunbattle in Pampore in south Kashmir.
The slain militants were identified as Altaf Ahmad Mir alias Mohsin, of Awantipora, and Zahoor Ahmad Mir alias Haroon of Armulla in Pulwama.
The militants, the police said, were involved in the Kathidarwaza car blast on September 12, 2009. A police bus was damaged and two security personnel and a woman were killed in the blast.
They also planned the Pampore shootout on December 22, 2009, killing two police personnel.
So far, more than 10,000 people have been killed in militancy related violence in the state.
A police spokesman said the police were tipped off on Thursday that the duo was at a village in Pampore, adjoining Srinagar district. Early in the morning, a combined army-police force surrounded the house where they were hiding.
According to a police spokesman, the gunbattle began around 9.00 am and lasted for three hours. He said the militants played a pivotal role in regrouping the LeT in south Kashmir.
“Both of them left the indigenous Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and had joined the LeT in the middle of last year,” said the spokesman.
