Two security personnel — a solider and a policeman — were killed and another was injured during an anti-militancy operation in south Kashmir’s Pulwama on Tuesday.
An official said the gunfight erupted when a joint team of the police’s Special Operations Group and the Army launched a search operation in Awantipora’s Khrew in Pulwama district, following a tip-off about the presence of a group of armed militants.
A small village Zantrag, located close to a forest area, was being surrounded by the security forces when the hiding militants opened indiscriminate fire from a built-up area. “A soldier and a policeman died as they were being shifted to a local hospital,” the official said.
Security forces launched a massive combing operation in the area. “The operation is still on. The area is being searched for militants’ bodies,” police said.
The encounter took place just a day after J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh said the security forces “were on the verge of wiping out the Hizbul Mujahideen” in south Kashmir.
According to official figures, eight militants have been killed in stepped up operations in Kashmir this month. Three Hizb militants, including a “commander,” were killed on Monday in Shopian.
