A militant was killed in a gunfight with security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday. Two army soldiers suffered injuries in the gun-battle. The encounter was temporarily paused by the forces as they asked a newly recruited 14-year-old boy to surrender, reports said.
A police official said that security forces comprising columns of army, CRPF and police encircled an apple orchard of Chitragam village, some 15 kms from Shopian town, and launched searches.
He said that the operation turned into a gun-battle after militants hiding inside a tin shed opened fire.
The police official said that a militant was killed while two army men suffered injuries in the initial exchange of fire.
The police official said that Faisal Gulzar, the 14-year-old newly recruited militant, is trapped in the area and police were persuading him to surrender.
Gulzar, according to the official, joined militancy barely 72 hours ago.
The official said that the family of the boy was brought to the encounter site to appeal him to surrender.
The official said that as the gunshots rang out in the area, many local youths came out of their homes and hurled stones on the security forces. The forces fired tear smoke shells on the youths.
The area was under strict siege at the time of filing of this report.