Third militant killed in Kulgam gunfight, say officials

SRINAGAR — A third militant was killed in a gunfight that resumed after a lull of over 24 hours in Redwani area of Kulgam, officials said on Wednesday. The 45-hour-long gunbattle in the hamlet continues as the search operation at the site is still going on.

A top police official told the news agency KNO that a third militant, who was holed up at the site of the encounter, was killed this evening. He identified the slain as Momin Gulzar, a resident of the summer capital city of Srinagar.

He added that the gunfight resumed again after 24 hours today when the hiding militants fired upon the security forces, who were conducting a search operation after killing two militants including a top Lashkar-e-Toiba commander.

Two LeT militants, including top commander Basit Dar who was carrying a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head, were killed in the encounter yesterday at the same spot. The encounter broke out on Monday evening and continued for nearly 45 hours.

Earlier, the officials had said that two bodies had been retrieved from the encounter site while the search operation was going in the area. However, after the lull of over 24 hours, the gunfight resumed again a hiding militant fired upon the forces when the debris was being cleared.