Militants strike in Kupwara hours before Rajnath's visit

Militants attacked security forces in a north Kashmir village in Kupwara on Friday hours before Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited the border district.

Sources said there was a brief exchange of fire between militants and the army in Langate area of Kupwara -- some 100 km north of Srinagar. No casualties were reported.

Security forces cordoned off the area as the attackers escaped.

The attack took place some 20 km from Kupwara town where the Home Minister, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and MoS (PMO) Jitendra Singh met people from the border district amid elaborate security arrangements.

Kupwara is listed among the 115 inspirational districts where the central government has vowed to lay "special emphasis" on the overall development to fight poverty and backwardness.

Rajnath Singh, who began his two-day trip to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, will fly to Jammu in the afternoon.

He is expected to visit R.S. Pura sector and some other places near the International Border where hundreds of people had migrated to safer places after Pakistani shelling of civilian areas.

He will fly back to Delhi in the evening.

--IANS

sq/sar/bg