Eight civilians injured in clashes during ongoing J&K gunfight

Eight civilian protesters were injured on Friday in clashes with the security forces during an ongoing gunfight between holed-up militants and the security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said.

A mob of stone-pelting protesters clashed with the security forces as they tried to disrupt the security operations in Thamuna village of Pulwama, leading to eight civilians getting injured, one of them by a gunshot, a police officer said.

A civilian, identified as Rouf Ahmad, sustained the gunshot injury and has been brought to a hospital here, sources said.

Security forces had surrounded Thamuna village following intelligence inputs about the presence of a group of militants there, and as the cordon was tightened, the hiding militants opened fired, sparking of the gunfight.

As a precautionary measure, authorities suspended mobile Internet services in Pulwama to check spread of rumours.

--IANS

sq/vd