1 dead, 50 hurt in protests after killing of Sabzar Bhat

Srinagar : One person was killed in Tral region of Jammu & Kashmir and several others were injured in clashes between civilians and the security forces after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmed Bhat.

Burhan Wani's successor Bhat was killed along with his accomplice in a fierce gunfight with security forces on Saturday in Kashmir's southern Tral region.

Violence erupted in several parts of the valley as the news about Bhat's killing spread. More than 50 people have been injured in clashes underway in different parts of south, central and north Kashmir, and Srinagar.

A total of 19 people were injured in Tral. While six of them received bullet injuries, others suffered pellet injuries. The civilian, who was killed in clashes in Tral, was caught in crossfire between militants and security forces.

Six policemen were



also injured in stone-pelting.

In a separate incident, six infiltrating militants were killed in a clash with Army troops in Uri sector of the Line of Control (LoC) in Baramulla district. The incident comes a day after the Army had said it stopped an infiltration attempt backed by the Pakistan army along the de facto border by killing two intruders believed to be the members of a Pakistan army's Border Action Team (BAT).

The officials in Srinagar said that the fire fight began in Tral's Saimu village after the security forces laid siege to it on learning about the presence of militants. Jammu and Kashmir's Director General of Police, Shesh Paul Ved, confirmed that Bhat is among the two militants killed, so far.

The two other slain militants have been identified as Faizan Ahmed, a teenager who had joined the Hizb ranks only recently, and Aadil Ahmed.