Three CRPF Jawans Killed In Militant Attack In Kashmir

The injured were rushed to the nearby SDH Hospital were two CRPF men were declared dead on arrival, while, reports of another jawan succumbing to his injuries came moments later

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Srinagar: Three CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel were killed while two others were injured when militants attacked a paramilitary party in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Saturday. Reports said the militants opened fire on a joint party of CRPF and police at Noorbagh near Ahad Bab’s crossing in Sopore, 52 km from here, injuring five paramilitary personnel. The news agency ANI reported that the CPRF personnel who lost their lives in Sopore terrorist attack have been identified as 42-year-old Rajeev Sharma from Vaishali in Bihar, CB Bhakare (38) from Maharashtra's Buldhan & Parmar Stayapal Singh (28) from Sabarkantha in Gujarat. The injured were rushed to the nearby SDH Hospital were two CRPF men were declared dead on arrival, while, reports of another jawan succumbing to his injuries came moments later. A local news agency, while quoting DGP Dilbagh Singh said that three jawans were injured, from whom two died while one is critical. The DGP said that militants attacked a CRPF vehicle on duty at Sopore town. Soon after the event security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to nab the attackers, reports said. On April 8, security forces had killed a Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) commander in an encounter in Sopore. On April 5, five unidentified militants and an equal number of soldiers were killed as the Army foiled an infiltration bid by ultras along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. There has been a spurt in anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir. And also there are ample signs that after an interval of some years, militancy is returning to north Kashmir which was a one-time hub of the Valley’s pro-Pakistan militant groups. While most of the encounters in recent months have been occurring in southern districts of Kulgam, Shopian, and Pulwama, a senior police officer said, north Kashmir has more battle-hardened militants active on the ground than the South.