Top Pak militant, civilian killed in Kashmir gun-battle

Srinagar, June 20 (UNI) A top Pakistani commander of the Harkat-ul- Mujahideen (HuM) and a civilian were killed while two BSF personnel, a girl and another militant sustained wounds in a fierce gun-battle in Bandipora district of north Kashmir early today.

Giving details, an Army spokesman said personnel of 57 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the BSF's 51 battalion launched a joint search operation following a tip-off by the Jammu and Kashmir police in Muslimabad area of Bandipora district this morning.

As security forces were searching a particular area, militants attacked them with grenades and automatic weapons.

Two BSF personnel were wounded in the attack, he added.

The fire was effectively returned and in the ensuing gun-battle, the security forces killed a self-styled district commander of the Pakistan-based HuM, the spokesman said.

He has been identified as Shaheen, a resident of Pakistan.

The spokesman said another militant, Mehraj-ud-din Zargar alias Shoaib, was also wounded in the grenade explosion. He has been shifted to the Sri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) here for treatment.

A police spokesman, however, said as the security forces were searching the area, militants hurled a grenade and fired upon them from the house of Ghulam Nabi Zargar.

He said the house owner, his son Mehraj-ud-din and daughter Nazima besides two BSF personnel were wounded in the gunfight.

They were rushed to the SMHS hospital here where Zargar succumbed to injuries, the spokesman added.

A satellite phone, two handsets, a diary, a hair wig, one pistol with a magazine and five rounds were seized from the encounter site.

In another militancy-related incident, the spokesman said at around 0830 hrs today, security forces detected a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by suspected militants on the Srinagar-Bandipora road at Jamia Qadeem near Bandipora.

The IED was later defused without causing any damage, he added.

The spokesman said security forces seized a live hand grenade from a lane at Ahamsharief near Bandipora today.

He said militants fired on a parked Tata Sumo near Kangroosa Middle School in Baramulla district last evening. The windowpanes of the vehicles were damaged in the firing.

UNI