M A I N   N E W S

11 militants killed in J&K

JAMMU, Aug 14 (Agencies) — Fourteen persons, including 11 militants were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in militancy related incidents in the past 24 hours, according to official sources.The unidentified militants were concerned at the 12,000-foot Nukkal Pass in the Pir Panjal range of mountains which divides the Jammu region from the Kashmir valley.

The sources said troops closed in on the militants in an operation launched 72 hours earlier. Realising they were trapped, the militants opened fire and then tried to flee, but they were killed in the ensuing close-quarter encounter.

Six rifles were recovered from the gunmen, but the spokesman said there was no information yet on which group they belonged to.

Three civilians and a militant were killed in two separate militancy-related incidents in Jammu division where security forces recovered improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the sources said.

Suspected militants killed three civilians at the Kotdara area of Rajouri district last night.

A mercenary of the Lashkar-e-Toiba was killed in an encounter with security forces at Sanachuda in Bhillawer tehsil last night. An AK rifle, four magazines, and a radio set were recovered from the spot, reports from Kathua district headquarters said.

In a search operation in Sangoit village of Rajouri, Army troops recovered a large quantity of explosives including 98 prepared IEDs with detonators and 10 hand grenades last night. They were to be used to disrupt Independence Day functions in Rajouri district, the reports said.

The police foiled a militant bid to trigger a bomb blast at Narwal Mandi in Jammu city by defusing a high power IED last night, the reports said.

Four persons, including two security personnel and a policeman, were injured in militant attacks, while security forces averted a tragedy in the Kashmir valley last night, an official spokesman said.

Militants hurled a powerful grenade at a security patrol which missed its target and exploded on a road injuring at least 10 persons in Pulwama district today.