Twenty militants among which 12 were locals have been killed in 9 gunfights across Kashmir Valley in the month of January this year. Besides the killing of 20 militants (8 foreigners and 12 locals) an infiltrator was also killed in Jumagund village of Keran Sector along LoC in Kupwara district.
There were overall 10 gunfights, however, in one of the encounters at Chek Nowgam village of South Kashmir’s Shopian, militants managed to escape from the spot.
The data available reveals that militants struck thrice in this month. They carried out an unsuccessful attack on a bunker in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, killed a policeman in South Kashmir’s Hasanpora village of Bijbehara, however, their bid to kill a cop in Srinagar’s Batamaloo failed in the last week of the month.
Joint Forces suffered only one casualty in the 9 gunfights in Valley, however, in Chek Nowgam village of Shopian where militants escaped, three soldiers sustained bullet injuries. Three soldiers and three civilians were also injured in Pariwan Kulgam gunfight.
The only casualty suffered by Joint Forces was at Pariwan Kulgam when a cop from Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police Rohit Chib was killed. A Pakistani militant Babar Bhai, was also killed in the same gunfight.
South Kashmir witnessed most of the gunfights followed by Central Kashmir’s Budgam and Srinagar. The encounters raged in Okey, Pariwan, and Hasanpora villages of Kulgam, Kilbal and Chek Nowgam villages of Shopian, Chandgam and Naira villages of Pulwama, Zolwa and Tilsar villages of Budgam and Shalimar area of Srinagar outskirts.
There were overall 23 human casualties including 20 militants, 2 policemen, and an infiltrator, however, no civilian casualty was reported from any part of Valley in the month of January.
The top militant commanders killed this month included Zahid Wani, a resident of Karimabad Pulwama, Saleem Parrey of Hajin Bandipora, Waseem Ahmed of Srinagar, Talha Yasir, and Babar Bhai, both Pakistani nationals. (KNT)