Troops hunt for militants hiding in Kashmir forest

October 7th, 2009 SRINAGAR - The security forces continued the hunt for around 8 to 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba militants hiding in the Noor Takia forests of Pampore in Pulwama region of Jammu and Kashmir state on Wednesday. Top Lashkar commanders, including Rehman Bhai, are believed to be hiding in the 5-kilometre stretch in the forests.

October 7th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Three separatist guerrillas, including a top militant belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were killed early Wednesday by security forces in a forested area of Jammu and Kashmir's north Kupwara district, officials said. The operation against the guerrillas in the Zachaldara forest area, about 95 km from here, is still on, a defence spokesperson said.

October 6th, 2009 JAMMU - A top leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen was killed early Tuesday when security forces engaged militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district, police said. Though Mohammed Osama had been gunned down, three to four militants were still hiding.

September 30th, 2009 SHIMLA - The Indian Army's top priorities are eliminating militants and checking infiltration from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir, an officer who takes over as the Northern Command chief said Wednesday. Lt Gen B.S. Jaswal, who takes over as the general officer-in-command of the Northern Command Thursday, is presently the general officer-in-command of the Army Training Command.

August 5th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Six separatist guerrillas were killed in three different gunbattles with security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesperson said here Wednesday. An infiltration bid across the line of control (LoC) in the Tangdhar area was foiled early Wednesday by army personnel, who killed two militants.

August 3rd, 2009 JAMMU - The beheaded body of a man who had been abducted by a group of militants was found in a forest near his home in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, police said Monday. About four militants had barged into the house of Ali Saeed in Daddar Morh village in Rajouri district, about 120 km from here, late Saturday.

July 4th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Two militants were killed and two soldiers wounded in an ongoing gunbattle in the Wedder Bala forest area of Kupwara district in north Kashmir, police said Saturday. Security forces surrounded the forest Friday on getting specific information about the presence of militants.

April 7th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Two soldiers and two guerrillas were killed in a three-day long gunfight that ended Tuesday in a Kashmir forest area, police said. The army and Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir police launched an operation in Maidanpora forest, around 110 km from here, in the frontier Kupwara district Sunday.

March 30th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Two foreign militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit were gunned down in a south Kashmir gun battle with security forces Monday, the police said. Army troops in a joint operation with the police surrounded a house in Moshwara village of south Kashmir Shopian district, 40 km from here in the morning.

March 28th, 2009 SRINAGAR/JAMMU - Three guerrillas were killed in two separate gunfights with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir Saturday amid growing fears that cross-border militant and arms incursions have intensified ahead of the polls. Two guerrillas were killed in a gunfight in a south Kashmir forest while the third was gunned down in a shootout in Rajouri, officials said.

March 26th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Two guerrillas, including a top militant of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), have been killed in two separate gunbattles in Jammu and Kashmir, the army said Thursday. A defence spokesperson said security personnel of the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the police's special operations group surrounded a forested place in Dooraswani area of Lolab, 110 km from here, in north Kashmir late Wednesday.

March 25th, 2009 SRINAGAR/ JAMMU - Shabir Ahmed Malik, a solider of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry paramilitary trooper, who was killed in a five-day-long gunbattle in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, was cremated here on Tuesday with full state honours. Shops and business establishments remained closed in Srinagar on Tuesday to pay tribute to Malik.

March 21st, 2009 SRINAGAR - Three separatist guerrillas were killed Friday when army troops surrounded a forest in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara area. The operation began early Friday in Rangwar forest area near Chowkibal in Kupwara district, about 120 km from here.

March 15th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Two guerrillas of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit were killed Saturday in a gun battle with security forces in a forested area of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. The fight erupted after troops of 21 Rashtriya Rifles and the police launched a search operation in the Bawan forest area in Handwara in north Kashmir, around 100 km from here.

January 23rd, 2009 SRINAGAR - Two suspected separatist guerrillas were killed in a gunfight that erupted during a search operation in a forest area in north Kashmir Saturday, the police said. A police team, in a joint operation with the Indian Army, launched an operation on a specific information in the forest area of Shanagri near Handwara in Kupwara district, 80 km from here.