Three Lashkar-e-Toiba militants and a civilian lady were killed in an early morning encounter in Handwara area of Kupwara district in north Kashmir.A police official told news agency GNS that acting on a specific input, the police along with Army’s 22 RR and 92 Battalion CRPF launched a cordon and search operation in Mir Mohalla locality of Unisoo village of Handwara at 12:30 am. “During search operation, the militants hiding in the house of Abdul Hamid Mir fired upon the joint search party.“The fire was retaliated, ensuing an encounter. Three unidentified militants of LeT were killed in this encounter. The identity of these militants is being ascertained,” he said, adding that three AK rifles along with other ammunition were recovered from the encounter site. The gunfight continued for about an hour.The police chief Dr Shesh Paul Vaid tweeted that “in Unsoo Handwara all the three Pakistani militants have been neutralized by the joint team of forces”. Soon after the encounter, authorities directed telecom companies to snap Internet services in parts of Sopore and Kupwara in wake of militant killings.
During the encounter, one civilian lady was killed in “cross-fire”, a police spokesman said. He said: “During the encounter, one lady got injured in the cross firing and unfortunately she succumbed to her injuries.” However official sources told GNS that “five members of the family got trapped inside a house and one member believed to be daughter in law of the house owner tried to escape during which she sustained serious bullet wounds and subsequently died due to grave injuries”.Soon after the news about the killing of the lady spread in the area, hundreds of people took to streets and staged pro-freedom protests. Despite rains, a large number of mourners attended the funeral of the slain lady and she was laid to rest in local graveyard amid sloganeering. (GNS)