ENCOUNTER COMES A DAY AFTER FOUR MILITANTS AND A SOLDIER WERE KILLED IN TANGDHAR SECTOR

SRINAGAR: Two suspected militants were killed by security forces in an encounter on Friday in Kashmir’s Sopore town, army said.

The gunfight started in the morning between militants and security forces in Sopore town after police received information about the presence of militants, sources said.

Police sources said the identity of the militants killed in the encounter has been ascertained as Altaf Mir of Sopore and Imtiyaz Lone of Bandipora district.

The recent encounter comes a day after four militants and one soldier were killed in another encounter on Thursday after security forces foiled an infiltration attempt in Tangdhar sector near the Line of Control.

Army on Friday paid tributes to soldier Prem Bahadur Resmi Magar who was killed in the Tangdhar encounter.

The 37-year-old soldier was a part of the team that had killed seven militants in the same area in two earlier encounters.

He was a native of Falpa district in Nepal and is survived by his wife and two children. “He was a true embodiment of the Gorkhas’ martial and yet mirthful character,” an army spokesperson said.

A day before that, soldier Ajay Singh Choudhary succumbed to the injuries he suffered in an encounter on Tuesday in Machil sector of Kupwara district.

“Signalman Ajay was part of his unit’s Quick Reaction Team, which was the first to intercept and engage an infiltrating column of terrorists in the highly inhospitable terrain of Machhal area on [June 14],” an army statement said.

 

“Displaying exceptional gallantry and selflessness, he had continued to engage the terrorists, killing one despite being grievously wounded himself. He was evacuated from the encounter site but unfortunately succumbed to his injuries later