Jammu, December 16
Two foreign militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen Pir Panjal Regiment (HMPPR) and an Army jawan were killed in a night-long gunbattle at Khari Marg, near Darhal, in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, according to a senior police official.

SSP (Rajouri district) J.P. Singh said acting on a tip-off that four HMPPR militants were at Khari Marg, police and Army personnel cordoned off the area last evening.

When the troops started combing the area, the militants opened fire. In the ensuing battle, one militant was killed late last night, while other was killed early this morning, he added.

Of the remaining two militants, one came out of the hideout breaking troops’ cordon after targeting them with grenades.

One jawan was killed in the grenade attack, he said. The militants managed to escape. An operation was on to track down them, the SSP added.

The slain militants were identified as “Tango Fighter” and “Alfa Romeo”, both residents of Pakistan. Two AK rifles, some torn Indian currency notes and a large quantity of ammunition were seized from them.

Meanwhile, at least three persons were killed by militants while the security forces averted a major tragedy in the valley overnight, an official spokesman said.

He said militants shot dead a person at Kral Pora Pattan and two others at Jamia mohalla in north Kashmir district of Baramula last night.

The security forces averted a major tragedy when they detected and later defused five improvised explosive devices (IEDs) fitted in a gas cylinder and planted at Urpash in the Ganderbal area, he added. — UNI