Sopore Encounter -Slain militant behind explosion that killed four policemen in January

The police detained a teenaged militant of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and an overground worker incentral Kashmir’sGanderbal district

The police said the militant with code name Talha Umair, alias Abu Hamza, had joined militancy earlier this year. He was detained “with persistent efforts of the Ganderbal police and his family.”

“Ishfaq Ahmad Dar of Sehpora, Ganderbal, who was instrumental in persuading him to join the terrorist ranks has also been detained,” a police spokesman said

The police said Talha was involved in a weapon-snatching case at Hazratbal earlier this year

Security forces achieved a major success when they gunned down two top suspected Pakistani militants, including the main accused in the killing of four policemen in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Sopore in January this year.

The gunfight erupted in the wee hours when joint teams of the police, 22 Rashtriya Rifles of the Army and 179th Battalion of the CRPF launched a cordon and search operation at Teliyan Mohalla, Sopore, after a tip-off about the presence of foreign militants in the area.

“During the search operation, militants lobbed grenades at the forces in a bid to break the cordon. Initially, civilians were evacuated from the site to safer areas before engaging the terrorists in an encounter. In the nearly six-hour-long gunfight, two militants were killed,” a police officer said.

This was the first gunfight in over four years in Sopore town.

The police identified the slain militants as Ali, alias Athar, and Zia-ur-Rehman, both Pakistani nationals.

“They were affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammad,” Superintendent of Police, Sopore, Javid Iqbal said. “Ali had been active since 2014 and was mastermind of the Sopore IED blast in which four policemen were killed,” he said.

On January 6, a major IED blast was carried out by militants in nearly a decade that left four policemen, including an officer, dead. The explosion took place at Gole Market, Sopore.

The SP said the two militants were also involved in many attacks, including a grenade attack on an Army camp at Sopore on September 11. The grenades had missed the target.

Clashes broke out in many parts of Sopore when the gunfight was going on. However, the security forces maintained a tight cordon and did not allow the militants to escape.

Meanwhile, the Army claimed to have foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in the Keran sector of Kupwara district on Thursday.

Sources said a brief exchange of fire took place when the Army challenged a group of militants close to the LoC in the Dat Gali area.

“The combing operation is still going on and there is a possibility that the militants may have returned to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” they said.

Courtesy: Tribune: 14th Sep, 2018