J&K: 2 army majors, 9 militants killed in encounter

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Last updated on: October 03, 2007 17:15 IST

The two-day-long bloody gunfight between the security forces and the militants ended in north Kashmir on Wednesday afternoon in which two army majors and nine militants were killed.

Five others including four troopers and a local village headman were critically wounded in this encounter.

Police in north Kashmir said troops of 34 counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off a house in the Rangwali Khar village of north Kashmir Baramulla district on Tuesday morning following specific information about the presence of a group of militants there.

"As the troops neared the house in which the militants had been hiding, they came under heavy automatic gunfire. The militants also hurled grenades at the approaching troops," a senior police officer said.

"Major K P Vinay died on the spot while Major Raman who had sustained fatal gunshot injuries succumbed to his wounds in the hospital," the police officer said.

The injured persons were immediately airlifted for treatment to the army's base hospital inside the headquarters of the 15th Corps in Srinagar.

Additional re-inforcements were rushed to the spot to tighten the cordon around the house. The holed up militants were engaged in a protracted gunfight that lasted for more than 24 hours.

"Bodies of nine militants have so far been recovered from the debris of the house they had been hiding in. Searches are still on. Huge quantities of arms and ammunition have been recovered from the encounter site," the officer said.

Reports also said some houses in the vicinity have also been damaged in the gunfight that was one of the biggest engagements between the security forces and the militants this year.

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