Gunfight ends in Shopian as militants escape

SRINAGAR — The overnight military operation in Nowgam village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district was called off on Thursday morning as militants, believed to be two in number, managed to escape, official sources said.

They said that massive searches were launched at the first light today. However, no militant was found present following which the joint cordon-and-search-operation launched by Police and Army was called off.

A top police officer told GNS that the militants possibly escaped in the initial phase of the encounter in which “only two soldiers” were “critically” injured, not three as reported earlier. He said intelligence inputs suggested presence of two militants, including a foreigner.

The encounter had ensued on Wednesday evening after Police and Army launched the CASO amid information about the presence of the militants.

As the joint team approached towards the suspected spot, the officials said, the hiding militants fired upon the forces, triggering off the gunfight, they said. Subsequently, reinforcements of Army were rushed to the spot and all entry and exit points were closed.