Army officer, militant killed in Kashmir gunfight

A junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the Indian Army and an unidentified militant were killed in an encounter in Handwara area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, around 55km from Srinagar, on Tuesday.

A junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the Indian Army and an unidentified militant were killed in an encounter in Handwara area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, around 55km from Srinagar, on Tuesday.

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The encounter broke out early in the morning when militants, believed to be three in number, fired upon a joint search party of the army and police in Wadarbala forests near Petta in Handwara, an army spokesman said. “Troops of the Rashtriya Rifles and the special operations group (SOG) of the state police surrounded the forests early on Tuesday following intelligence inputs about presence of a group of terrorists.” The encounter started at 6.45am, as militants opened fire and invited retaliation.

In the gunfire, a militant was killed; his identity yet to be ascertained.