Top Lashkar Commander among ten people killed in J and K

Srinagar, Sep 16 (UNI) A self-styled financial controller of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in Jammu and Kashmir and six other militants and a soldier WERE killed by security forces in the state overnight.

A defence spokesman said troops of 9 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) launched a search operation at Nadimarg forest in south Kashmir last afternoon following a tip-off that a group of militants had entered the area from Doda through Pirpanjal Rang.

When the troops were moving towards the militant hideout they were attacked with automatic weapons and hand grenades to which theY retaliated, and in the ENSUING two-hour-long gunbattle a Lashkar commander Abu Mohammad Sayed was killed, the spokesman added.

Sayed, a resident of Lahore, Pakistan, was the chief administrator and financial controller of the Lashkar besides the District Commander Udhampur in Jammu region.

Abu Sayed was Amir of LeT Madaras in Muridke and Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

It was a great success for the security forces in south Kashmir, the spokesman said.

In another incident, troops this afternoon killed three militants in a fierce encounter at Gurwattan-Sirpatheri in Pirpanjal range.

The encounter ensued after a search party was attacked by the militants.

The search in the area was still on, he said.

He further added that the troops also gunned down a militant in another encounter at Narwani in Pulwama district early this morning.

The encounter ensued after a search party was attacked by the militants. One AK rifle and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militant.

Official sources said another militant was killed in the same encounter.

They said another militant Abu Mastan, a resident of Pakistan, was killed by the security forces in an encounter at Zainapora in Pulwama district today. One AK rifle and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militant.

An official spokesman said one soldier was killed and two civilians were injured in a mine blast at Reban in Pulwama district.

A security force vehicle was also damaged in the blast, he said He said police today recovered the body of one Abdul Rashid Raina at Kangan while one Altaf Din, who was injured in a grenade blast at Surankote on yesterday, died in the hospital today.

Militants abducted a former ultra Mohammad Shafi peer from Kokernag last night.

UNI BAS SB VV1930