60-hour encounter in Kupwara ends: 2 militants, 5 security personnel killed

The gunfight between militants and security forces, which was on for over 60 hours at Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, ended on Sunday with the killing of two militants, police said on Sunday.

The gunfight between militants and security forces, which was on for over 60 hours at Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, ended on Sunday with the killing of two militants, police said on Sunday.

Besides the militants, five security personnel and one civilian were killed in the encounter. J&K police officers said the militants were affiliated to Lashkar-e-Toiba and one was a foreigner.

The CRPF on Sunday confirmed that one personnel, who was injured during the operation, has succumbed. On Friday, four security personnel, including a CRPF officer, were killed.

A J&K police spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday that two militants have been killed. “One jawan of CRPF identified as Sham Narayan Singh Yadav who was injured earlier has attained martyrdom,” said the spokesperson. The spokesperson added, “Bodies of both the terrorists were recovered from the site of encounter.”

The police spokesperson said, “This operation posed considerable difficulties to the security forces due to the topography of the area. The area where the terrorists were hiding was very congested and civilians in the adjoining houses had to be evacuated to safer places,” the statement said.

DIG (North Kashmir range) Muhammad Suleman Choudhary told reporters that the slain militants were affiliated to Lashkar-e-Toiba and one of them is from Pakistan. The other militant has not been identified.

Asked why the operation took so much time, the DIG said, “The lanes and bylanes were congested. Our approach is always maximum restraint so that there is no civilian casualty. That is why it took some time.”

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