Eight Militants Killed in Gun Battles with Indian Forces in Kashmir

The Jammu and Kashmir police in a statement on Sunday said that 11 militants, two civilians and three personnel of the armed forces were killed in the Draghad and Kachdoora gunfights in Shopian.

Indian forces have killed eight suspected militants in disputed Kashmir, police said Sunday, in some of the fiercest fighting this year in the restive Himalayan region.

“.Most importantly we have killed two of the terrorists involved in the killing of Lt Ummer Fayaz in May”. Over 100 civilians were injured and many of them are critical. “The killings are a major setback to militant groups”, Bhatt said. Around 20 of the injured were rushed to Srinagar and admitted at two hospitals.

Pakistan condemned Sunday’s violence and expressed solidarity with Kashmiris. Protesters at Kachdoora and Draggad pelted stones at security forces who then retaliated by opening fire. “They are being treated in the hospital I hope they all survive, ” Vaid said.

In a separate operation in Peth -Dialgam village of Anantnag district, a local militant was killed while another surrendered before the security forces.

“Many civilian homes have also been damaged leaving them on roads”.

Heavy clashes broke out between protesters and security forces in south Kashmir areas with over hundred suffering bullet, pellet and other firearm injuries since today morning, “At least six wounded protesters with critical bullet or pellet injuries have been referred to Srinagar for specialized treatment”, an officer in the state’s health department, said. Referring to people marching to encounter sites, the IG said some people, under the influence of anti-national elements, went near the encounter sites and tried to disturb the operations.

“Encounter also going on in Kachdoora Shopian, some civilian trapped efforts to rescue them on”, said Dr Vaid.

Local residents said soldiers blasted several civilian homes with explosives while fighting the militants. As the encounters at Dragad and Kanchidora erupted, youth attempted to march towards the encounter sites to help the militants escape.

The weekend clashes were the worst since a three-day skirmish in the forests of northern Kashmir last month left ten dead – five unidentified militants and five government troops. Mobile Internet services have been suspended in the Kashmir Valley following encounters at Anantnag, Shopian’s Dragad and Kachdoor. It said the CM, who is in New Delhi, also paid tribute to the three Army jawans killed during these operations. She has also sympathised with those injured in these operations, an official release said. She has conveyed her sympathies with the bereaved families and has prayed for peace, the release added.