Bilal Bashir Bhat
Srinagar, April 11 (KNB): At least four civilians and an army man have been killed and scores injured in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district following the protests that erupted near Khudwani area in backdrop of the encounter between government forces and militants who later succeeded to slip forces.
With today’s incident the toll of civilian killings has mounted to nine at the hands of government forces, apart from two civilians killed by unknown gunmen in Hajin area from the beginning of this month. Besides 09 civilians 17 local militants have been gunned down during the first quarter of this month.
The four slain civilians were identified as 28-year-old Sharjeel Ahmad Sheikh, 16-year-old Bilal Ahmad Tantray, 14-year-old Faisal Elahi and Ajaz Ahmad Palla.
Reports emanating from the ground said houses and shops were also set ablaze after heavy explosives were used to combat the militants.
Besides four civilians, an army soldier identified as Sada Gunakara Rao, 1 RR, SOG was also killed in encounter at Wani Mohall area of Khudwani. Sada Gunakara Rao was 24 years in age and had joined the Army in 2012. He belonged to Village Atisurikaviti of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh and is survived by his parents.
Meanwhile, none of the body was retrieved from the debris at encounter site, which according to the locals indicates that militants successfully managed to give slip to the forces.
Meanwhile, soon after the news of youth killings came into light protests erupted in several parts of Kashmir Valley including in Sopore, Kashmir University and other parts of South Kashmir. The Joint Resistance Leadership called a Valley wide shutdown against the killings. (KNB)
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