Encounter on in Pahalgam village; 3 militants trapped

Shabir Ahmad

SRINAGAR: A fierce encounter broke out today between security forces and militants trapped in a village near the hilly resort of Pahalgam in Anantnag district.
Acting on specific intelligence input about the presence of militants in Awoora village, security forces launched a search operation in the area.
A senior police official said at least three militants are trapped in Awoora village and heavy firing is going on.
"The village was cordoned off by SOG and RR following specific inputs about presence of three militants," the officer said and added that when the cordon was being aligned hiding militants opened fire and tried to flee from the area.
"We did not let them escape," the officer said. More reinforcements arrived at the spot and the cordon was tightened.
"Because of darkness, the operation will be suspended for the night," he said adding that it will resume at first light on Monday.
The officer said that two trapped militants are residents of South Kashmir while another is a resident of central district of Budgam.
However, he denied to reveal the names of the trapped militants.
A report said that people tried to break the cordon but were stopped by the police.