Foreign guerrilla killed in Kashmir gunfight

A holed-up foreign guerrilla was killed Thursday in a gunfight with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Badgam district, a senior officer said.

A Pakistani national identified as Umar, operating as a commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit, was killed in Hushroo village, 18 km from here, Thursday morning, the officer told IANS.

"The slain militant commander was involved in the murder of station house officer (SHO) Chadura police station early this month," he said.

"The encounter in Hushroo village lasted for 10 hours. Security forces had surrounded a house in the village following a tip-off that the foreign militant was hiding inside," the officer said.

"When challenged to surrender, the holed up militant fired at the security forces triggering an encounter, at the end of which the militant was killed," he said.

Earlier, SHO Shabir Ahmad was killed and two of his security guards were injured Dec 2 this year when a guerrilla fired at them indiscriminately in Chadura market where Ahmad had gone for routine duty in the morning.

Kashmir Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abdul Ghani Mir then told reporters that the LeT outfit was involved in the police officials' killing.