Police officer, civilian killed in two separate attacks in Kashmir

In a separate attack, militants shot dead a civilian, Rouf Ahmad, outside his residence at Mirjanpora neighbourhood of old Srinagar city. Ahmad was rushed to hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

While J&K Police have been the main targets of militants in Kashmir, attacks on civilians have also intensified since October this year, especially in Srinagar city.

According to official records, 41 security personnel were killed in J&K this year, 21 of whom were policemen. In the Valley, where 28 security personnel died in militant attacks, 20 belonged to the J&K police.

On December 13, militants fired on a police bus at Zewan in the outskirts of Srinagar city, killing three police personnel and wounding 11. The attack came just three days after militants attacked a police party in Bandipore and killed two police personnel.

In a string of militant attacks early October, seven civilians were killed in Srinagar. Three of those killed were local residents from the minority communities, and two migrant street vendors.

The attacks forced the J&K administration to shunt out the Srinagar police chief, Sandeep Choudhary, and replace him with Rakesh Balwal, an IPS officer who earlier worked with the NIA.