Two soldiers, militant killed in south Kashmir gunfight

This is the first incident of Army men dying in gunfight with militants in the Valley this year. Defence sources have identified the slain soldiers as Santosh Yadav and Chavan Romit Tanaji.

The police official said as the forces were conducting searches in the area, the hiding militants fired upon them. (File)

Two soldiers were killed in a gunfight in south Kashmir’s Shopian on Saturday morning. A militant was also killed in the exchange of fire that started after a joint team of forces launched a military operation against the militants.

Defence sources have identified the slain soldiers as Santosh Yadav and Chavan Romit Tanaji. Both the slain soldiers were sepoys of the 1 Rashtriya Rifles (RR).

The police said they were trying to ascertain the identity of the slain militant.

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On Saturday morning, a joint team of J-K Police, Army and paramilitary force cordoned off the Chermarg village of Zainpora in south Kashmir’s Shopian after receiving inputs about the presence of militants in the village. As the security forces zeroed in on the target, the militants opened indiscriminate fire. The joint team of forces retaliated the fire leading to a fierce gunfight.

“ShopianEncounterUpdate: 01 terrorist killed. Search going on. Further details shall follow,” tweeted J-K Police.

This is the first incident of Army men dying in gunfight with militants in the Valley this year.

Bashaarat Masood

Bashaarat Masood is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express. He has been covering Jammu and Kashmir, especially the conflict-ridden Kashmir valley, for two decades. Bashaarat joined The Indian Express after completing his Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University in Kashmir. He has been writing on politics, conflict and development. Bashaarat was awarded with the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2012 for his stories on the Pathribal fake encounter. ... Read More

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