JCO, soldier killed in militant ambush in Kashmir

Srinagar, Oct 11 (UNI) A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a soldier were killed when militants ambushed an Army patrol in Baramulla district of north Kashmir today, a defence spokesman said.

He said militants ambushed the convoy of 32 Rashtriya Rifles at Gund Karim Khan near Watergam in Rafiabad area of Baramulla district this morning.

A JCO and a soldier were killed in the ambush. The troops retaliated but the militants managed to escape.

The two have been identified as JCO subedar Dhol Bahadur and soldier (gunner) Binesh Kumar, the spokesman added.

The banned Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) claimed the responsibility for the attack. In a telephonic statement, LeT spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi said five soldiers, including a JCO, were killed and six others wounded in the attack.

More than two dozen militants and about half-a-dozen security force personnel, including two Majors, have been killed in north Kashmir since the past two weeks.

UNI