2 militants, 1 paramilitary trooper killed in Indian-controlled Kashmir gunfight

SRINAGAR: APRIL. 22 – A junior-level paramilitary officer and two militants were killed Friday in an attack and the subsequent gunfight in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The attack took place near a military cantonment at Sunjwan in Jammu, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The police cordoned off the area on specific intelligence information about the presence of militants earlier. However, in a pre-dawn attack, militants attacked a bus carrying paramilitary Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), killing an assistant sub-inspector and wounding two others.

Following the attack, government forces targetted the area and engaged the militants in a gunfight.

“So far two militants have been killed,” a police officer said. “A CISF assistant sub-inspector was killed and two of his colleagues wounded. Besides this, two police personnel were also wounded fighting militants.”

The attack in Jammu comes two days ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city.

A senior police official in Jammu Mukesh Singh said the slain militants were part of a suicide squad, and the police said they suspected the presence of a third militant in the area.

“The operation is underway,” Singh said.

Meanwhile, four militants, including a commander, were killed in an ongoing gunfight in Baramulla district. Four troopers and a policeman were also wounded in the standoff.

There has been a spurt in militant incidents in the region since last month.

A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in the region since 1989.

-Xinhua