Two more unidentified Lashkar-e-Toiba militants have been killed in an ongoing gunfight in a forest area of North Kashmir's Kupwara district, an official said. The gunfight had started in the Waderballa forest area in Zatchaldara on Tuesday morning, sixteen days after police's counterinsurgency group and Indian army units launched a combing operation after they were fired upon. One trooper had died in the firing on Oct 13. On Tuesday, an army officer and a unidentified militant was killed in the fierce gunfight amid the bad weather condition. The firefight had been suspended during the evening and resumed this morning. "Two more Lashkar militants have been killed today," a forces' official said.
Official sources said that acting on a specific information about the presence of 3 to 4 Lashkar militants in Waderballa forest, army’s 21 RR, 32 RR and 30 RR had jointly cordoned off the area on October 13. “On the same day, the forces intensified the searches in the forest area; the hiding militants attacked the army resulting in killing of a soldier." The militants while taking advantage of the dense forest had managed to escape from the spot.Since then, the search operation along with the reinforcement of army’s 14 RR, 27 RR, 22 RR and 52 RR against the hiding militants continued in the area, they said.
The joint team of the army had searched a large portion of the forest area."During the initial gunfight, a militant got killed and a Junior Commanding Officer of 30 RR sustained serious bullet wounds,” they said on Tuesday.They said the forces could not manage to evacuate the injured JCO from the spot due to heavy firing by militants. “The JCO Rajesh Kumar of 14 Mahar who has been earlier attached with 30 RR died on the spot."Army’s Srinagar-based defence spokesman in a statement had said that based on specific intelligence about presence of militants a coordinated joint operation was launched resulting in the killing of one militant.“The identity of the militant is yet to be ascertained. During the exchange of fire one Junior Commissioned Officer of Army was injured. He was evacuated from the site but latter succumbed,” the spokesman had said.