Six killed in IIOJ&K encounter

SRINAGAR: Five suspected fighters and a soldier were killed Friday in the latest of a series of clashes in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) that have left 17 dead in two weeks, police said.

The six died in a gunfight in the Rajpora area of the Kashmir valley that started Thursday night. Police alleged the five fighters were members of the Pakistan-based LET group. Three suspected Mujahideen were killed by soldiers in the Kulgam forest on Wednesday, a day after police said an influential commander Nadeem Abrar was killed with a Pakistani associate while in custody. The commander was taken to a house where he had hidden a rifle and was killed after his associate allegedly fired at security forces as they approached, police said.