SRINAGAR: Two militants have been killed in a gunfight with security forces in a school building in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
Police sources said a gunfight took place in Higher Secondary School, Goshbugh, near Pattan town, 27 kms north of Srinagar.
Defence Spokesman, Naresh Vig, told FreePress the operation was carried out jointly by 27 Rashtriya Rifles unit of the Army and Special Operations Group of the police.
He said the firing started at 7: 30 pm on Tuesday evening and lasted for brief period of twenty minutes. He however did not confirm the two killings till this report was filed.
“There has been a lull after that,” he said, adding that a search operation was on.
There has been no official word on the identity of the two slain militants. However sources said they were Aqib Rashid Sofi alias Yaqub and Bilal Ahmed Bhat, both residents of nearby Palhallan town and militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.
Violence, that has killed tens of thousands of people in Kashmir, has come down significantly in the past ten years. However authorities say there might be a fresh escalation in violence in the coming months.
Reports suggest that militant groups in the valley have been making fresh recruitment and have also carried out many daring attacks on security forces this year.
