Four separatist guerrillas killed in Jammu and Kashmir

SRINAGAR/JAMMU - Four separatist guerrillas were killed in two gun battles with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir Saturday, police said. The identity of the militants is yet to be established.

Two guerrillas were killed in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district while two others were slain in the Laar forest of Reasi district.

Acting on a tip-off about the presence of militants in a house, security forces moved into Shahnagri village of Kupwara district, a police officer said.

“When the militants were challenged to surrender, they opened automatic gunfire, triggering a gun battle that lasted nearly eight hours,” he added.

The two militants were killed but their identity was yet to be established.

In the second incident, two separatist guerrillas were killed in a fierce gun battle with security forces in the Laar forest of Reasi district.

A constable was also injured in the gun battle that lasted a little over four hours in the dense forest of Mahore village, about 150 km north of Jammu.

The gun battle started when security forces, acting on a tip-off, cordoned off the forest belt and asked the guerrillas to surrender. The guerrillas started firing at them.

“The battle lasted for a little over four hours and security forces were successful in killing the two guerrillas,” a police officer told IANS. He said the identity of the guerrillas has not been established as yet.

Army and intelligence officials say that with the melting of snows in the mountain passes leading into the Kashmir Valley, more and more guerrillas are sneaking into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan.