Three dead in J&K encounter

One militant and a policeman were killed in a clash between security forces and militants in Sopore in north Kashmir, reports Rashid Ahmad.

One militant and a policeman were killed in a clash between security forces and militants in Sopore in north Kashmir on Wednesday.

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The clash, which erupted on late on Tuesday, also left 10 security men — one of them a lieutenant colonel — injured.

A police spokesperson said troops of the 20 RR, 179 and 17-CRPF and Sopore police, on specific information, laid siege to a militant hideout. As they zeroed in on the hideout, militants opened fire, injuring seven security men.

Blocking all escape routes, the troops engaged the militants in a gunbattle that lasted the night.

They then launched a major assault early on Wednesday, killing one militant. With the second militant still firing at the troops, the latter fired rockets and mortars on the house, reducing it to rubble.

One of the security troops who had sustained injuries the day before succumbed.