By IANS
Srinagar : Five people – a top guerrilla commander, three of his associates and an Indian soldier – were killed in a north Kashmir village in a gunfight that ended Monday evening.
A senior police officer said Qari Omar, the ‘deputy operational commander’ of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and three of his associates were killed in Dooru village near Sopore, 60 km from here, in the gunfight between the security forces and the guerrillas that started here Sunday afternoon.
“A trooper of the 22 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) also died in the operation which has now come to an end,” the officer said.
Police also said the slain top guerrilla was a Pakistani national.
Earlier reports Monday said Qari Usman, the ‘chief commander’ of the HUM, had been among the slain guerrillas.
“The examination of the bodies of the militants revealed that it was not Qari Usman, but his deputy Qari Omar who had been gunned down in this operation,” the police officer clarified.
The operation against the guerrillas hiding in Dooru was carried out jointly by the counter-insurgency 22 RR and the special operations group (SOG) of the local police.