3-year-old injured in militant attack in Kashmir dies

The three-year-old son of a former militant, who was critically wounded in an attack in north Kashmir’s Sopore town on Saturday evening, succumbed to injuries in a hospital in Srinagar.

Militants fired at Bashir Ahmad Bhat, who had quit militancy after serving a prison term, in the Sagipora locality of Sopore town in Baramulla district. He was attacked when he was playing with his son Burhan, police said.

The militants, suspected to be of either Hizbul Mujahideen or its breakaway faction Laskhar-e-Islam, first lobbed a hand grenade, which failed to explode. Sensing trouble, Bhat tried to escape with his son but the militants opened fire with their automatic guns injuring him and his child, the police said.

While Bhat succumbed to injuries on way to hospital, his son was critically wounded in the attack.

Burhan was referred to a Srinagar hospital by attending doctors at Sopore for specialised treatment. However, he succumbed this morning in the Soura medical institute.