Srinagar: Six militants, including a top Jaish-e-Mohammad commander, as well as a soldier and a civilian were killed and four others injured in three gunfights between security forces and militants across the Kashmir Valley on Thursday.
In the first gunfight in Dalipora village of Pulwama district, three Jaish militants, including a top commander who had masterminded the 2017 attack on a CRPF camp, a soldier and a civilian were killed, police said.
“The slain militants have been identified as two locals, Naseer Pandit and Umar Mir and Pakistani national Khalid Bhai. Khalid was a top JeM commander and had masterminded the 2017 attack on the CRPF camp in Lethpora in which five troopers were killed,” a police source said.
The civilian victim was identified as Rayees Ahmad Dar, son of the owner of the house where the militants were hiding. His brother, Muhammad Younis, sustained a gunshot injury. According to the sources, two soldiers were also injured in the exchange of firing.
As police and security forces were evacuating civilians from the neighbourhood around the target house, the hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately. One Army jawan, Sepoy Sandeep attained martyrdom and one civilian Rayees Dar also lost his life.
