Srinagar, Jan. 31: In the fourth such incident in the past fortnight, Kashmiri separatist militants gave the security forces the slip after engaging them in a fierce gunbattle in the northwestern town of Sopore, 48 km from here, early on Sunday.
Earlier such incidents had occurred in the Kulgam-Shopian-Pulwama belt in the south and the border district of Poonch.The police confirmed that the 15-hour-long gunbattle between the security forces and a group of militants, including Harkat-ul-Mujahedin “divisional commander” Basharat Saleem alias Munna, reportedly holed up in a private house in Sopore’s New Colony, was over but search operations had not led to the recovery of any militants’ bodies.A combing operation had soon been launched and the smouldering debris of the suspected hideout were being rummaged repeatedly, witnesses said.On Sunday morning, red-faced officials said the militants, believed to be three in number, might have fled after the house had caught fire late on Saturday night.
Age Correspondent