3 Militants, army officer killed in Kashmir

Three militants and an Army officer were killed and four security personnel injured on Friday in a fierce gunbattle in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Troops of 18 Rashtriya Rifles and special operations group of local police launched a search-cum-cordon operation in Maidanpora village in Kupwara, in the wee hours today following information about the presence of foreign militants, sources said. There was no immediate exchange of firing between the two sides as security forces wanted to ensure that all civilians were out of the building before the operation was started. While the menfolk had come out of the building soon after the cordon was laid, the wife of the house owner and his daughter were trapped inside for more than an hour, they said. The girl came out first from the house followed by her mother half-an-hour later, they said. Security forces engaged the militants after the two came out safely.