Pulwama Encounter: Two Jaish terrorists, including a Pakistani commander of the group being investigated for his role in the February 14 CRPF bombing, and an Army major were among the seven people killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Monday, officials said.
Four Army personnel, including a lieutenant colonel, were injured in the gun battle in Pulwama's Pinglan area, about 12 km from the spot where a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed drove his explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus last week, killing 40 jawans and critically wounding five.
The encounter claimed the lives four Army personnel, two Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists and a civilian, officials said.
The slain terrorists were identified as Kamran, a Pakistani national and top commander of the Jaish, and Hilal Ahmad, a local recruited by the terror group, they said.
According to latest inputs, South Kashmir Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Amit Kumar has also suffered injuries in the encounter.
n Army officer was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 16. A total of 45 soldiers have been martyred in Jammu and Kashmir in last 5 days.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday decided to withdraw the security of five separatist leaders including Hurriyat Conference chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Apart from Mirwaiz, the security cover of Abdul Ghani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi and Shabir Shah has also been withdrawn. According to the official order, no security forces or cover will be provided, under any pretext, to these or any other separatists.