13 ultras among 20 killed in Jammu and Kashmir

​New Delhi: In one of the most violent days in strife-torn Kashmir, 13 militants were killed and another captured in three separate encounters in Shopian and Anantnag districts on Sunday. Three Army jawans and four civilians were also killed in the incident. The deceased jawans have been identified as Gunner Arvinder Kumar, Gunner Nilesh Singh and Sepoy Hetram.

Jammu and Kashmir Directorate General of Police (DGP) SP Vaid posted on Twitter, “Encounter concluded. Two more terrorist bodies recovered from Shopian encounter site. In all, 13 terrorists neutralised, three soldiers martyred and one terrorist caught alive. It’s unfortunate that stone pelting around encounter site cost four civilian deaths.” Vaid, who addressed the media earlier in the day, also said that a few police, CRPF and Army personnel were injured in the encounters.      

While 25 civilians sustained pellet injuries, six others suffered bullet injuries, he said. Police had earlier said that eight militants, who were killed in the fire exchange, were locals. While seven of them belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen, one of them was from Lashkar-e-Taiba. The identity of the remaining three are yet to be ascertained.

“The Anantnag SSP made a special effort and spoke to family members of a slain terrorist to convince him to leave the path of violence, but the terrorist did not listen,” Vaid said. In the wake of the attacks, mobile internet services were suspended in the Kashmir Valley as a precautionary measure, officials said.

AK Bhatt, Commander of the Srinagar-headquartered Chinar Corps, said two of the slain militants were involved in the killing of Lt Ummer Fayaz last year. “Excellent synergy has been developed between the police, army, CRPF and the troops on ground. We had been looking for the terrorists who killed Lt Ummer Fayaz and today, we managed to neutralise them. All the terrorists who were killed today were locals,” he told reporters.

On Saturday night, the J&K Police along with the CRPF launched three separate operations following inputs about the presence of militants in Shopian and Anantnag. At Dialgam, 7km from Anantnag town, one militant was gunned down after a fierce encounter, while his accomplice Amir was captured. The slain militant has been identified as Rouf Bashir Shiekh. He had joined militancy last month itself.

Clashes between the locals and police broke out after news of the killing of the militants spread in south Kashmir. Protesters at Kachdoora and Draggad pelted stones at security forces who then retaliated by opening fire. Several people were injured in the incident and were rushed to the hospital. Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the affected areas to maintain law and order.

In the last three days, unidentified gunmen have killed two Special Police Officials and also injured wife of an SPO in five separate attacks. A militant was also injured during a gunfight.