Troops kill 6 Lashkar militants

After it got news that six foreign militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba had stopped at a house here for the night, the Army got its tr...

After it got news that six foreign militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba had stopped at a house here for the night, the Army got its troops positioned next to the house by dawn today.

The troops lay camouflaged in apple orchards, neighbours8217; backyards, around a shallow stream and behind a compound wall of the house, ready to pounce on the militants the moment they tried to stir out of the house.

BSF bust JeM hideout

SRINAGAR: In a pre-dawn raid, security forces busted a major Jaish-e-Mohammad JeM hideout hideout in the city, a stone8217;s throw from Dana Mazar where the outfit chief in Kashmir and Parliament attack mastermind Gazi Baba was shot dead. Nearly 47 grenades, three types of rifles, an automatic pistol, Chinese pistol, a large quantity of explosive and Rs 67,900 in Indian currency besides Jehadi literature were recovered from the hideout located under the kitchen of the house, they said, adding that Chauhan was arrested. 8212; ENS

The six militants, in their early 20s, had barely moved a few yards when troops fired from three directions killing two in the compound itself. Three others scaled the walls only to be sprayed with bullets. The sixth ran back to the house and took position in the kitchen. But he was killed later when the troops tossed a grenade into the kitchen.

Having combed the area for arms and ammunition, the troops handed over the bodies of the militants to the local police. In the afternoon, the police asked villagers to bury the slain militants. However, when the bodies were taken to a local school for the Nimaz-e-jinaza prayer before burial, hundreds of villagers reached the site. Hundreds of people from neighbouring villages were also seen marching towards the school.

The village being a stronghold of the right-wing Jamat-e-Islami, some youths also chanted slogans in favour of separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

On their part, the Army and police claimed it was a surgical operation where all the militants were killed without any collatoral damage. Meanwhile, the Army said it killed the military advisor of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen at Churnar in Kupwara district today.