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Amid snowfall gunfight erupts in Shopian village
ESS AHMAD. Dated: 11/4/2018 7:59:40 PM
Unconfirmed reports suggest 2 militants killed
ANANTNAG, Nov 3: A militant was reportedly killed in a gunfight with government forces in southern Shopian district on Saturday.
Amid heavy snowfall that brought the life to a virtual halt in most parts of Kashmir, huge contingents of forces including army's 23 Para, 44 RR, Para-military CRPF men and Special Operations Group (SOG) of police laid a siege to Khudpora village of Shopian at around 7.00 PM following specific intelligence input about the presence of militants.
Soon after laying cordon and sealing the entry and exit points to the village, officials said, the forces zeroed in on a particular cluster of houses and began conducting searches.
During the searches, they said, the forces came under fire from the militants who were hiding in one of the houses.
The forces retaliated the fire triggering a gunfight. An official said that soon after the forces established contact with the militants triggering a gunfight, the militants in a bid to break the cordon and flee moved out of the house while resorting to indiscriminate firing on forces. Some reports suggested that both the militants were killed in open as they attempted to flee. However, an official said that only one body has been recovered from the encounter site so far.
"Though we had information about the presence of two to three militants in the locality. But during the searches so far we have recovered the body of only one militant. Searches are on to find if there are any more bodies,"
The official said that the identity of the militant is being ascertained.
He said they will be able to ascertain the identity of the militant only after the operation is over.
However, unconfirmed reports identified the two militants as Irfan Ahmad of Bundzoo Pulwama and SPO turned militant Showkat Ahmad from Harmain Shopian. Ahmad in August this year had fled along with the service rifle of his colleague.