Srinagar: A family in south Kashmir claimed one of the five militants killed in a Bandipora gunfight between militants and armed forces was their son, which led to protests, Kashmir Reader reported.
The militant, identified as Bilal Ahmad alias Abu Haider was claimed by the family from Kulgam. A group of people assembled in Gulshan Chowk upon hearing the news and staged a protest against ‘the alleged dubbing of a local militant as foreigner’, KR reported.
“My brother had crossed LoC in 2003. We know he is the one among the killed militants,” Mashooq Ahmad, a Kulgam resident was quoted by KR as having said.
Earlier, militant outfit Hizbul Mujhadeen Monday claimed that five militants killed in Sumlar Bandipora encounter are not foreigners but locals.
At least five militants were killed in a two day long gun battle in Sumlar area of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district. Army had already said that slain militants were non-locals.
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Hizb Operational Spokesperson Burhanuddin told news agency CNS that those killed in the gunfight were locals. “It was a group comprising five members who got trapped in Sumlar area and were killed in a long gun fight,” Burhanuddin said.
According to him, those killed in Sumlar gunfight were Hyder Ali from Brazul Kulgam, Muhammad Umar from Shopian, Muhammad Sidiq from Bandipora, Mawiya from Kangan and Usman from Lolab.
Hizbul Mujhadeen Operational Spokesperson quoted outfit Chief Syed Salahuddin as having said that the sacrifices rendered by this group will not go waste. “We are indebted to these youth who were in field for Kashmir Cause,” he said and added that rich tributes were paid to these five militants by the outfit Chief Syed Salahuddin, Field Operational Commander Muhammad Bin Qasim and others.
