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Army captain among 19 killed in Kashmir

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

In an intensive combing operation launched by security forces following a series of militant attacks, at least 15 extremists and four soldiers, including a captain of the Indian Army, were killed on Thursday. Police said five soldiers received serious injuries.

In the search in the forests of Kokernag in south Kashmir today, troops of the Rashtriya Rifles gunned down eight militants in a fierce daylong gun battle.

Acting on a tip-off, the Rashtriya Rifles had mounted a search in the forest when they came under fire. The soldiers returned the fire. Full details of the encounter were not available till late in the night.

In another encounter between militants and an army detachment at Village Pachnar Gund in south Kashmir, Captain Suresh Pillai was killed and three other soldiers received grievous injuries. Troops later threw a cordon around the village and shot dead two extremists.

Troops killed four more militants at Village Lankar-Bommai, also in south Kashmir, late last night. Police said one of those killed was identified as a foreign militant from Afghanistan and identified as Peer Bhai.

Meanwhile, in a landmine blast at Nihalpora Pattan in the northern Kashmir district of Baramulla, three soldiers of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry were killed and four others received serious injuries this morning.

Police said the JAKLI vehicle ran over the landmine, triggering it. The injured soldiers were moved to hospital where they were said to be in a critical condition. Senior police officers rushed to the spot and the area was cordoned off.

Earlier report

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