M A I N   N E W S

Major killed in Kashmir blast

Srinagar, May 28
An Army officer and a woman were killed and seven others, five of them securitymen, injured when militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in Baramula district today, an official spokesman said.

The IED, concealed in a bicycle parked by the road near Sangrama, 45 km from here, exploded around 10.30 a.m. when an Army convoy was passing by, he said.

The explosion blew up an Army vehicle wounding two officers and four guards, as well as two women pedestrians besides a child, he said.

The injured were rushed to hospital where Officiating Commanding Officer of 22 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Sicka, and a woman, Sayeeda, died.

The condition of Company Commander of the Army unit Pothkhah, Major Nayar and a jawan was stated to be “serious”, he said, adding two civilians were also stated to be in a “critical” condition.

No militant outfit had claimed the responsibility for the blast, the spokesman said, adding a combing operation was on.

In another incident three school children, including a girl, suffered minor injuries when a low-intensity explosive device went off in a school at Nishat on the outskirts of Srinagar early today. The cause of the explosion was not known immediately.

Meanwhile, a Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed in an encounter with Army at Kakroosa in Kupwara district last night, a Rifle and some ammunition were seized from the slain ultra. The army nabbed a Hizbul ultra from the Kulangam area of Kupwara during search operations last evening and recovered two grenades from him, a police spokesman said.

In Jammu two militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit were killed in a gunbattle with troops in the Surankote area of Poonch district, official sources said.

The militants fired at a patrol party near Dokh in the Surankote area last night, forcing the securitymen to retaliate, the sources said.

In the encounter, two LeT militants were killed, they said, adding two AK-56 rifles, seven magazines, 192 rounds, seven grenades, one radio set and some pouches were recovered. PTI