15-yr-old ultra among 3 killed

Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, December 9

A Class IX student, the youngest militant recruit in the Valley, was among three ultras killed in a 17-hour encounter on Srinagar’s outskirts today.

Mudassir Parray, 15, a resident of Hajin town of Bandipora in north Kashmir, had joined militant ranks in September, two days after two Pakistan Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in a gunfight in his native town. His picture holding an AK-47 rifle in one hand and a knife in the other recently went viral on the social media.

The gunfight started last evening when joint teams of security forces carried out a cordon and search operation at Mujagund, 15 km from the city centre, along the Srinagar-Bandipora highway.

“As searches were on, militants opened fire, injuring a soldier. The gunfight continued through the night and ended around 9 am,” said CRPF IG Ravideep Sahi.

Sources said while two militants were gunned down within a few hours of the gunfight, the third kept shifting from one house to another. At least seven single-storey houses were damaged.

The second slain militant was identified as Saqib Sheikh, also a resident of Hajin. The identity of the third militant could not be established. Police sources believed he was a Pakistan national.

Clashes broke out as locals staged protests to disrupt the operation. Nearly half a dozen civilians were injured.

Meanwhile, there is a fear that the killing of one of the youngest militants may trigger recruitment of more vulnerable teenagers.  While the United Jihad Council has instructed not to recruit students, militant outfits are wooing teenagers to their fold.