india

Updated: Nov 27, 2018 16:29 IST

A soldier of the Indian Army died and three militants were killed on Tuesday in separate gun battles in south Kashmir’s Kulgam and Pulwama districts, officials said.

They said two militants were killed after the army and state police launched a joint operation in Redwani area of Kulgam after information that they were holed up in a house. The militants killed in Redwani have been identified as Ajaz Ahmad Makroo, a resident of Qaimoh, and Waris Ahmad Malik from Arwani.

“As per police records both the killed terrorists were affiliated with proscribed terror outfit LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) and were wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes, including the attacks on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” the police said in a statement.

Makroo, police said, was a close associate of terrorist commanders Naveed Jat and Azad Dada and that several cases of terror were registered against him in Kulgam. Waris also figured in several terror crimes cases, it added.

Another militant, who was killed during a gunfight with security forces in Hafoo village of Pulwama’s Tral, has been identified as Shakir Hassan Dar, a resident of Rathsuna.

Dar was a part of the Zakir Musa group and involved in crime since 2015. “He was wanted by law for his complicity in a series of terror crimes including attacks on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” the police statement said.

They said a huge quantity of arms and ammunition including rifles were recovered from the encounter sites at Tral and Kulgam.

Police asked citizens to avoid going inside the encounter site, saying the area can be dangerous due to stray explosive materials. “People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitised and cleared of all the explosives materials if any,” it said.

The gun battle at both areas is now over and separate cases have been lodged.

Last week, an army soldier, seven militants and a civilian killed in two encounters between security forces and militants in the state’s Shopian and Pulwama districts on Sunday.

At least 29 people, including 19 militants, seven civilians and three security forces personnel, have been killed in the Kashmir Valley since November 15. Seventeen of these militants, most of them locals, have been killed by security forces in Shopian, Anantnag and Pulwama districts since Wednesday alone.