M A I N   N E W S

Militants kill 3 Doda pilgrims

Srinagar, October 3
Fourteen persons, including three pilgrims, seven militants and a counter-insurgent were killed in Jammu and Kashmir where the police averted a major tragedy with the timely detection of a powerful IED on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway since last night, official sources said today.

A group of militants opened indiscriminate fire on a batch of devotees returning after paying obeisance at Losar temple in the Bhadarwah area of Doda district this morning, killing three of them on the spot.

Three Pakistani militants — Nissar Jamali and Khaiber Afridi, both belonging to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Zafrullah Saleem of Jaish-e-Mohammad were killed in a gunfight with the security forces at Natnoosa village in the border district of Kupwara early today, the spokesman said.

Three AK assault rifles, eight magazines, 142 rounds and a wireless set were seized from the slain militants.

An improvised explosive device, weighing 5 kg and kept in a can on the roadside apparently to target security convoys, was detected by a police party at Chandhar near Pampore, 14 km from here, on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, he said.

In another successful operation, a defence spokesman said troops of 29 Rashtriya Rifles killed three unidentified militants hiding in a house at Chakmanhmunshi-Kreeri village in Baramula district.

Another militant was killed by security forces in an ongoing operation at Gohanladi in Baramula district of North Kashmir this evening, official sources said.

Militants shot dead a home guard personnel, Khazir Mohammad Mir, inside his house at Wadarbala in Kupwara district in north Kashmir last night.

The bullet-riddled body of a youth identified as Bial Ahmad Sheikh (20), was found by the police from Hadchipora in Pulwama district today, the sources said. He was killed by unidentified militants. — PTI