J&K: Two killed in army firing in Shopian

Two people were killed and several others were injured in a firing, after an army patrol convoy came under heavy stone pelting from a mob in Shopian's Ganowpora Chowk in South Kashmir on Saturday.

According to a statement from Public Relations Officer PRO (Defence), the convoy was passing through Ganowpora Chowk in Shopian when it came under unprovoked and intense stone pelting by a group of 100-120 people. Within no time, their numbers swelled to 200-250 persons.

The crowd surrounded an isolated portion of the convoy consisting of four vehicles. They caused extensive damage to these vehicles and tried to set them on fire.

A junior commissioned officer accompanying the convoy got hit on the head and fell unconscious, suffering a serious head injury, the statement added.

As the situation went out of hand, the army opened fire at the mob for self-defence. A total of seven army men suffered injuries and extensive damage was caused to eleven vehicles. In the process, two civilians succumbed to their bullet injuries.

The incident comes days after two terrorists were killed in an encounter in Dairoo's Chaigund area in Shopian on Wednesday. The slain terrorists were later identified as locals.

A local boy was also killed in the ensuing crossfire, while two women sustained injuries.