KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Three militants were killed on Sunday after they tried to storm an army hospital in Tanghdar sector of the frontier Kupwara district in North Kashmir.
Official sources told Global News Service (GNS) that a group of six to seven heavily armed militants, who had reportedly sneaked into the Valley last week, tried to storm army’s 328 Field Surgical Centre (FSC) at Bukhayan village near Dak Banglow Tanghdar in the wee hours Sunday.
The surgical unit is about 200 yards from army’s 104 Brigade.
“The militants fired indiscriminately towards the soldiers and tried to enter the hospital. However, the army men repulsed the attack. This led to outbreak of gun-battle,” sources said.
The militants, sources said, took shelter in the residential houses belonging to Muneer Sheikh, son of Mehboob Sheikh and Shakoor Sheikh, son of Ata Mohammad Sheikh adjacent to the Surgical Centre, while two others engaged the army in the gunfight.
“When the encounter turned fierce, additional reinforcement comprising of 30 commandos of 4 PARA were flown in by chopper”, sources said adding, “The commandos and the soldiers of other units including 3/1 GR, 20 RR, 12 Maratha regiment and 26 Rajput regiment have laid a siege around the village to prevent militants from fleeing,”
Sources said that the militants declined the surrender offer by army and continued renewed assaults on them. Few residential houses were also destroyed following heavy motor shelling by army on militants.
They said that it is believed that the group of militants entered the Valley through Darshan Post along the LoC on May 25 and killed three army men of 3/1 GR and injured a Junior Commissioned officer (JCO). One unidentified militant had also been killed in the encounter.
A senior defence official said that three militants have been killed in the ongoing encounter. He said that militants have taken eight civilians hostage, while five others have been evacuated by the army.
“Besides the hostage crisis, heavy rains, thundershowers and lightening occurred in the area that hampered the operation. All the militants are under trap,” the official said. Sources said that three rifles have been recovered alongwith as many bodies.
Meanwhile, General Officer-in Command (GoC) 15 corps, Lt Gen Subrata Saha earlier in the day visited the encounter spot and assessed the situation.
