The overnight military operation in Nowgam village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district was called off on Thursday morning as militants, believed to be two in number, managed to escape, reports said.
Two army soldiers were injured in the initial exchange of fire in the encounter that broke out on Wednesday evening shortly after security forces cordoned off the area following a tip off about the presence of militants there.
Today, massive searches were launched at the first light in the morning, however, no militant was found present following which the joint cordon-and-search-operation launched by police and army was called off, news agency reported while quoting sources.
A top police officer told that the militants “possibly escaped in the initial phase of the encounter in which two soldiers were critically injured”.
The officer said that intelligence inputs suggested presence of two militants including a foreigner in the area. ( GNS )
