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Militant killed in Budgam encounter
Two major gunbattles between militants and security forces ended in central Kashmir's Budgam and south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday. One militant was killed in the Budgam encounter, while militants in the Tral town of Pulwama managed to give security forces the slip.
Two major gunbattles between militants and security forces ended in central Kashmir's Budgam and south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday.
One militant was killed in the Budgam encounter, while militants in the Tral town of Pulwama managed to give security forces the slip.
The exchange of fire between militants and security forces started in the morning at Hashru village in Budgam, where militants were holed up in a residential area.
The police suspect the militant killed in the 12-hour-long gunfight to be Omar Bilal of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, though locals claimed the deceased was a native of the village.
A police official confirmed the death of the militant, who, according to a police source, was an outsider.
In a separate incident 50 km south of Srinagar, security forces were engaged in a fierce gunbattle at Tral that started at Wagad Gadpora village at 4.30am.
The operation was conducted jointly by the army's 42 RR, 185 battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force and Special Operations Group.
The encounter ended with the suspected militants managing to escape from the cordoned area on Thursday.
"Following intelligence inputs that militants had taken refuge in the particular village, forces jointly led an operation and cordoned off the area. But before they could be trapped, they fled," said a police official. Search operations were in progress.
