Commando martyred, 6-yr old among 2 civilians dead

SRINAGAR: An Indian Army commando attained martyrdom and another injured in a gunfight with terrorists in a forested area of Kupwara district on Wednesday, even as a protestor civilian was killed when security forces opened fire in a clash with stone-pelting mob near the encounter site.

The overnight encounter which was still going on at the time of writing this report had started last night when security forces launched anoperation in Kandi forest area of Kupwara after an Army patrol was fired upon by terrorists, an Army official said.

On Wednesday, a gunbattle broke out between the two sides when terrorists hiding in Sadu Ganga forest area of Kupwara opened fired on security forces.

Army sources said a commando identified as Sepoy Mukul Meena of 3 Para Regiment was killed and another soldier injured during the gun battle that was still raging till late in the evening in the north Kashmir mountainous district.

“Meena along with a colleague was critically injured. The duo were evacuated to an army hospital where Meena succumbed to injuries,” an official said.

Meanwhile, protests erupted in the areas nearby the encounter site with a large number of people taking to stone pelting later turning into clashes with the security forces.

A civilian was killed in clashes between protesters and an army patrol in Kupwara's Trehgam town on Wednesday evening, police sources said.

"Some protesters hurled stones at an army patrol party while it was passing through Trehgam town around 8 pm,” a police official said.

He said the troops opened fired to disperse the protestors, resulting in injuries to two of them.

"One of the injured, Khalid Gaffer (22), succumbed to injuries at a hospital. He was hit by a bullet in the throat," the official said.

Tension has gripped the entire area while senior civil and police officials have reached the spot to ensure things remain under control.

In a separate incident, a six-year-old boy was killed and four others injured on Wednesday in an accidental explosion inside a residential compound in south Kashmir's Shopian district, police said.

The explosion took place in the residential compound of Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh at Meemandar in Shopian district this afternoon, resulting in injuries to five children, all aged between six and eight years, a police officer said.

“The blast occurred when a group of boys was fiddling with some explosives in Meemander village,” he said, adding that the children were rushed to a hospital, where one of them, Salik Iqbal Sheikh, was declared brought dead, he added.

The remaining four which include three boys and a girl were undergoing treatment and condition of three is stated to be critical, the police officer said.
Initial investigations suggest that the children were fiddling with the explosive when it exploded, he said.

An investigation is underway to ascertain the nature of the explosive and how it reached the residential compound.