Six militants, soldier killed in separate Kashmir gunfights

Six militants and an army soldier were killed and another soldier was injured on Friday in two separate gunfights in north Kashmir's Baramulla and Kupwara districts.

Police said two militants hiding in a house in Konchipora village of Tangmarg area in Baramulla were killed on Friday in a gun battle with the security forces.

Police said one army soldier was injured in the Konchipora gunfight.

Security forces had surrounded the house in Konchipora village in the morning following information about two Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants hiding in it.

In the afternoon, the security forces used explosives to demolish the house. The bodies of the two HM guerrillas were recovered from the debris.

The identity of the slain militants is being established, police said.

In the other incident, four militants and a soldier were killed in a two-day long gunfight in Toot Maar Ghali (TMG) in Nowgam sector of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district.

The soldier killed in the TMG area has been identified as Havaldar Hangpang Dada of Borduria village (Khonsa), in Tir ap district of Arunachal Pradesh.

The 36-year-old soldier had served the army for 19 years. He is survived by his wife, an 11-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son, defence sources told IANS.

While the gunfight has ended, the operation against the guerrillas in the densely forested TMG area of the LoC was still on, according to defence officials.

Defence sources have confirmed the group of militants engaged in the TMG gunfight had recently infiltrated into the Indian side of the LoC.

The LoC is the de facto border between the Indian and Pakistan controlled parts of divided Jammu and Kashmir.

--IANS

sq/rn/vt