Four militants among six killed, Scores injured in Anantnag gunfight

Four militants, including ISJK chief Dawood Salafi, a policeman and a civilian were killed and dozens others injured after a gunfight broke out between militants and the government forces in Srigufwara area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Friday.
A police official confirmed that four militants were killed in the gunfight. He said the slain include ISJK (Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir) chief Dawood Salafi of HMT Srinagar. He identified the other slain militants as Majid Manzoor Dar from Talangam Awantipora, Ashraf Itoo from Hatigam Srigufwara and Adil Hassan Mir from Sheipora Srigufwara.
He said that the owner of the house in which militants were hiding and his wife were injured as the firefight broke out in Nowshera Khiram in Srigufwara today morning.
The house owner, identified as Muhammad Yousuf Rather, and his wife Hafeeza were shifted to District Hospital Anantnag for treatment. However, Rather was declared dead on arrival while Hafeeza was shifted to SKIMS Soura for specialized treatment.
Two army men and a cop of Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police were injured in the firefight. The injured were rushed to a hospital where the cop, identified as Ashiq Hussain succumbed.
Meanwhile, massive clashes have erupted near the site of the gunfight and in the adjoining areas.
Reports said that youth pelted stones on the forces to disrupt their operation against the besieged militants, believed to be four in number. The forces responded by firing live ammunition, tear gas and pellets resulting in injuries to at least twenty civilians.
One of the injured civilians, identified as Ubaid Ahmad, suffered a bullet injury in his neck, reports said, adding that he was shifted to a hospital where his condition remains critical.
Authorities have suspended the Internet service in Pulwama, Anantnag and Srinagar in the wake of the gunfight and the militant and civilian killings. One of the slain militants is believed to be from Srinagar.
Meanwhile, forces have cordoned off adjoining Mehand and Khusrai Kalan villages of Dachnipora as they believe some militants might have fled there following the gunfight.
An army spokesman said that a joint party of police, army and the CRPF was fired at from a house while they were carrying searches in Nowshera area of Anantnag.
He said an SOG man and a civilian were killed in the militant fire. In the retaliatory fire, he said, two militants were killed.
“While search operations in the adjoining area intensified, militants hiding in a ‘nullah” fired at the security forces. Two more militants were killed in the ensuing firefight. Total four militants have been killed so far and the operations are underway,” he said.

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