Two militants, soldier killed, encounter on in J

Srinagar, Oct 13 (UNI) A fierce gun-battle was on between troops and infiltrators near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Gurez sector while two militants of the Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and a security personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said today.

He said the encounter erupted today when troops intercepted a group of infiltrators after it had sneaked into this side from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) via Nanital forests, Bagtoor in the Gurez sector.

The gun-battle was still going on till the filing of this report.

The spokesman said there were no reports of any casualty from either side so far.

In another incident, two HUM militants and a security personnel were killed and a soldier injured in a 24-hour-long gunfight in Allayalpora village in Shopian area of south Kashmir.

He said security forces, on specific information, conducted a search operation in the village early yesterday. However, when the security forces were sealing the village, militants attacked them with automatic weapons. The fire was returned and the militants later took refuge in a house.

Reinforcements were rushed to the area from nearby camps and militants were repeatedly asked to surrender. The operation ended this morning with the killing of two Lashkar militants identified as Azad Ahmad of Shopian and Shakeel Bhai alias Abass of Gujranwala in Pakistan. A soldier also laid down his life and another was wounded.

Two AK rifles, 17 rounds, three hand grenades and a radso set were seized from the slain militants, the spokesman said, adding the under-construction house of Mohammad Ayoub Bhat also got damaged in the encounter.

Meanwhile, two civilians were wounded when an Army convoy was attacked by militants at Kahanspora village in Baramulla district of north Kashmir at around 1245 hrs today, official sources said.

The fire was returned by troops. A matador carrying passengers was caught in the gun-fire, resulting in injuries to two civilians, including a woman, they added.

The wounded have been identified as Gulshan and Ashiq Hussain, both resident of Sopore area of this district.

However, villagers later took to streets alleging that troops in an Army vehicle fired on a passenger bus on the main road after being denied overtaking. The locals claimed two passengers were wounded in the firing by the soldiers.

During a search operation, security forces seized seven kg of RDX and eight UBGL grenades in Nud-Sumba forest area in Jammu region last evening, the spokesman said.

UNI BAS PR DB1950