Policeman killed, 2 others wounded in militant attack in Indian controlled Kashmir

A policeman was killed and two of his colleagues were wounded in a militant attack in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said Sunday. The attack was carried out Saturday evening at Kog-Mandli village in Billawar tehsil of Kathua district, about 268 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. According to police, a search operation was carried out in the village following specific inputs about the presence of militants. "As the search party was advancing towards the suspected area, it came under heavy fire from the militants present there. The government forces also fired in retaliation and in the ensuing firefight a policeman was killed and two of his colleagues -- a deputy superintendent of police and an assistant sub-inspector -- were wounded," a police official said. "The wounded policemen were immediately taken to the hospital." Police said reinforcements were rushed to the area to take on militants there. On Sunday a senior police official Anand Jain told medi a they have information about the presence of three to four militants in the area. "The whole area is under tight security cordon and an operation is underway to neutralize the holed-up militants, Jain said. On Saturday, two militants were killed and five government forces personnel -- four troopers and a senior police official -- were wounded in a fierce gunfight in Adigam-Devsar village of Kulgam district. Source: The Namibia News Agency