Sopore encounter over, militants escape again

On Saturday evening,the Armys 22 Rashtriya Rifles and J-K Polices SOG cordoned off New Colony neighbourhood of Sopore after a specific input about the presence of militants in a house. Soon after the security cordon,the militants opened fire on the security forces,which was retaliated. However,taking advantage of darkness,the militants managed to escape. On Sunday morning,as there was no gunfire from the militants,the soldiers launched a search operation expecting to find the body of a slain militant; they could only find

an AK 47 rifle.

When we searched

the area in the morning,we didnt find any body, Station House Officer,Sopore,Abdul Aziz Qadri,told The Indian Express. We recovered just a rifle and some ammunition.

Police sources said a Hizbul Mujahideen militant was holed up inside the house. The house was damaged during the encounter.

On January 23,two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants escaped from Qaimoh village in Kulgam after the Army,assisted by J-K Police,cordoned off the area. This was followed by an incident at Kalampora,Pulwama,where militants

escaped after breaking the security cordon.

A civilian was killed in the encounter. On January 29,four LeT militants managed to give slip to the Army after killing two soldiers at Dachan area of Kishtwar in Jammu region.