Encounter on with trapped militants in Kulgam

Security forces encircled militants in Kulgam, Kashmir and exchanged heavy fire. Locals were asked to stay indoors. Army killed a top 'commander' from PoK in Uri Sector, along with another militant. Infiltration attempts continue despite winter, but Army is prepared to thwart any disruption of peace.

Security forces have encircled a group of militants and exchanged heavy fire during an operation in south Kashmir’s Kulgam on Thursday evening.

A police spokesman said the encounter started at the Samno pocket of the D.H. Pora area of Kulgam district. The police and security forces were on the job.

The area was rattled with heavy exchange of gunfire between the trapped militants and the security forces. Locals said the security forces directed them to stay indoors.

Official sources said flood lights were installed around the encounter site to ensure that the militants do not escape. Multiple layers of cordon have been laid by the security forces. Security agencies suspect three to five militants might be hiding at the site.

Meanwhile, the Army said the recent killing of two infiltrators near the Line of Control in north Kashmir’s Baramulla included a top ‘commander’, who handled launching of militants into the Kashmir Valley from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

“The Operation Kali in the Uri Sector led to the killing of the launching commander, Bashir Ahmed Malik, from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He had been active for more than three decades,” Colonel Raghav, Army’s Commanding Officer in-charge of the Uri Sector, said during a press conference in Baramulla.

Two infiltrators were killed on November 15 in the Uri Sector during a joint operation of the Army and the police.