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Tribune News Service
Anantnag, August 29
Altaf Ahmad Dar alias Kachroo, one of the longest surviving militants and divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Anantnag, 45 km from Srinagar, on Wednesday. His aide Umar Rashid Ganaie was shot dead too. The gunfight on the outskirts of Anantnag, lasted four hours.
“The operation was launched at about 2 am following inputs on the presence of militants in the area,” a senior police official said. “ The militants fired from their hideout at about 6 am.” Local sources said the house where the militants were holed up was reduced to a rubble.
Minutes after the encounter, the authorities snapped mobile/internet services in Anantnag and Kulgam. Also, train services on the Banihal-Srinagar track were suspended for a day. Restrictions were imposed in most parts of Anantnag town and its periphery. Despite that clashes broke out in Qaimoh and Khodweni areas of Kulgam, district the area to which the slain militants belonged. Several civilians were hurt.
Kachroo joined the Hizb in 2007. “He recruited local youths and engineered attacks on security installations and civilians. His death is a huge success for the forces and will help restore normalcy in the state,” a police official said. Several militants are reported to have attended Kachroo’s funeral.
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