Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, May 28

A jawan and a civilian were killed during an exchange of fire between Army personnel and militants outside an Army camp in the Kakapora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. After the Centre announced cessation of operations during the holy month of Ramzan, this is the first strike by militants where forces have suffered a casualty.Also, three Army men were injured in an explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) early in morning in Turkewangam village of Shopian district in south Kashmir.The soldier killed in the Kakapora firing has been identified as Vikram Singh and the civilian killed as Bilal Ahmad Ganaie, a local Sumo driver. The incident took place about 10 pm on Sunday evening.According to police reports, militants fired at an Army camp in the Kakapora area of Pulwama district in an indiscriminate fashion.“The Army men patrolling outside the camp retaliated the fire of militants, triggering a brief gunfight,” a senior police officer said, adding that the militants managed to flee, taking advantage of the darkness.As the firing subsided, the police said, it was found that a civilian had been shot dead during the crossfire and an Army man had been injured.“The soldier succumbed to his injuries at the Army’s base hospital in Srinagar,” said Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, Chaudhry Aslam.The area was cordoned off following the firing, and massive searches were carried out to nab the militants. The searches were called off about midnight with no success.In yet another militant attack in the wee hours of Monday, an IED planted by militants was detonated right in front of an Army vehicle in Shopian district, leaving at least three Army men injured. “The soldiers were evacuated to hospital for treatment,” a police spokesperson said.He said that another IED planted in the vicinity of the detonated one was spotted and defused without causing any damage by alert security forces.Militants rob bank in Bijbehara Militants robbed yet another branch of J&K Bank, this time in the Mahend area of Bijbehara in Anantnag district. It is the twelfth robbery in south Kashmir since demonetisation was announced in November 2016. The police report says Rs 1.72 lakh was taken away from the branch in Mahend. “The gunmen also took away two 12-bore rifles of the guards posted at the bank,” a senior police officer said.