After Burhan Wani’s death, the valley was witnessed another round of unrest after four terrorists and two army men were killed in an encounter in Kulgam district in South Kashmir on Sunday. Two civilians also killed; one in the encounter and another in the protest. Also, 14 others were injured in the encounter and firing on the mob in the Frisal village of Kulgam district.

Brigadier R Chakravarty, Commander 1 Sector RR said around Nagbal Frisal village a security cordon was put up after they got the information about the presence of militants in the area on Saturday.

The Commander said that at around midnight when the cordon was established they got to know that one civilian was also inside the house with the terrorists. So the operation was delayed. “Along with members of the local Auqaf Committee, we made several announcements that the civilian should be released, but the militants didn’t release him. After we launched the operation, the civilian, who had heard our announcements, came out and was hit by militant fire and died. Two soldiers who were in the front were also killed in the firing.”

The soldiers were identified as Sepoy Raghubeer Singh and Lance Naik Bhandoriya Gopal Singh. The civilian who was with the militants was identified as Adil Reshi, son of the owner of the house where the militants were hiding.

All the slain terrorists were local youths and identified as Yonus Ahmad of Hawoora village, Mudasir Tantray of Redwani, Vakil Ahmad Thoker of Hadigam and Farooq Ahmad of Chak Dasand.

Brigadier R Chakravarty said the militants were from the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen and killing them was a big success for the military forces.

Soon after, the locals were involved in stone-pelting on the security forces and they damaged several vehicles including Army’s Casper. Then the Forces opened fire at them and injuring 14 civilians. One of them was Mushtaq Ibrahim Itoo, 22. He was hit by a bullet in the chest and later he succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.

The separatists took the opportunity and they have called for a shutdown on Monday and on February 15, they march towards Kulgam.

The residents claimed that police used teargas shells to separate the protesters. A huge crowd later attended the funeral of the militants.

However, police investigated the death of the civilians. The opposition also demanded an inquiry into the death of the civilians.

According to the Army, more than 30 militants are active in the Kulgam area and the efforts are being taken to inspire them to lay down their weapons.