A gunfight broke out between government forces and a group of militants at Manigah area of Haihama in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Friday.A senior police officer told Srinagar based news agency that army’s 41 RR cordoned off the village Manigah along Line of Control (LoC) in the frontier district following specific information about the presence of some militants.The forces as such intensified the cordon-and-search operation and fired several warning shots towards the suspected spot, the officer said, adding that the militants believed to be three to four in number hiding inside the area opened fire triggering off an encounter.
Pertinently, army’s 41 RR recovered the body of a Lashkar-e-Toiba commander, Sajaad Bhai, a resident of Multan, Pakistan longwith an AK-47 rifle and other warlike stores during a search operation in forest areas of Trumnad and Kumkadi in Safawali sector near LoC on Nov 10.In the initial exchange of fire one militant has been reportedly killed in Kupwara encounter and the gunfight was going on in the area when last reports came in. It is believed that 3 miltants were in the trap.A exchange of firing started after a joint party of army and police encountered a group of three militants at Hajinaka in Payerpati area of Kupwara, police said.“In the initial exchange of fire one militant has been killed. The area has been cordoned off by the forces,” the police said.