SRINAGAR: In another day of bloodletting in the valley, an
Army major and a soldier were killed in an ambush in
Shopian while two terrorists were gunned down by security forces in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Thursday.
A joint team of the Army’s 62 Rashtriya Rifles, Special Operations Group and the CRPF launched a cordon-and-search operation at
Zaipora
village in Shopian following a tip-off about the presence of some terrorists early Thursday around 2:30am.
However, the terrorists hiding in the area fired at the forces and Major
Kamlesh Pandey, along with two soldiers Sepoy
Tanjin Chhutin
and
Kripal Singh, were wounded, defence spokesman Rajesh Kalia said.
Major Kamlesh and Sepoy Tanjin succumbed to their injuries at the military hospital. The condition of Kripal was said to be critical.
The district police officer said the search operation to track down the terrorist group was still going on till the filing of this report.
Sources said the terrorists, believed to be three in number, managed to escape while taking advantage of darkness during the pre-dawn hours.
Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the terror attack. The outfit’s spokesperson Burhanuddin said in a statement that “such attacks will continue across Kashmir Valley”.
At Gopalpora village in Kulgam district, two terrorists were killed in a brief gun-battle with security forces.
The slain terrorists were identified as Aqib Itoo of Gopalpora and Suhail Rather of Tantraypora, Yaripora Kulgam, both affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen. Two weapons were recovered from the slain terrorists, a police officer said. One of the slain militants was involved in the killing of five policemen and a bank guard in an attack on a bank van.