J-K: 3 militants killed in Kupwara district , security operation on

The Army claimed to have killed three foreign militants, which include a confirmed member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, in an ongoing encounter in Dardpora village of Lolab area in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Friday night.

On Saturday, the Army claimed to have killed three foreign militants, which include a confirmed member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, in an ongoing encounter in Dardpora village of Lolab area in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Friday night.

The militant, Abu Usama, is reportedly a LeT member and a resident of Pak-occupied Kashmir. He was killed on Friday night and a rifle and some explosives were recovered from him, an army official said.

On Saturday evening two more militants were shot dead in the operation, and their identities are being ascertained as of now.

An army official told Hindustan Times, “The encounter is still on and the dead militant has been identified as a ‘foreign militant.”

According to sources, soldiers of the 28 Rashtriya Rifles and special operations group (SOG) of the state police continue to be in a gun-battle with militants.

Two or three militants are believed to be hiding in the area, they added.

They said the army had cordoned-off a certain area in Dardpora village on Friday night following intelligence inputs about the presence of militants. The gunfight was triggered by the militants who fired at the security forces.

Srinagar-based news agency GNS quoted a police officer as saying that Usama is believed to be a “part of the group comprising of three-to-four members, who had infiltrated into Kashmir six months ago and were hiding inside dense bushes of Lolab.”

Police had handed over the body of the militant to local Auqaf committee in Dardpora after which he was buried.