SRINAGAR, 16 November 2006 — Eight people including a soldier and seven suspected militants were killed and three others wounded in two encounters in Kupwara district in northern Kashmir yesterday.
Members of the special operations group (SOG) of the local police cordoned off some houses in Sangran Pati village following a tip-off that militants were hiding there. Soon after, there was a shootout between the militants and the SOG personnel who were assisted by Dogra Regiment troops.
Four suspected militants, all foreigners, died in the encounter. A house where militants were holed up was destroyed, a senior police officer told Arab News. In another encounter in the Cherwari Gulgam village of the same district a Gorkha Regiment patrol was ambushed by militants. Security personnel fired back.
Three militants and a soldier were killed in the encounter while other troopers including a major were injured, Indian Army spokesman Col. A.K. Mathur said.
Arms and ammunition seized following the two encounters include seven AK-47 rifles.
On Tuesday, 28 people including 17 civilians were wounded in a car bomb and a land mine blast in Kashmir. Hizbul Mujahedeen, the largest rebel group fighting for region’s merger with Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
