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Heavy fighting as Hizb militants take shelter in J&K mosque

A group of Hizbul Mujahideen militants took shelter in a mosque after exchanging fire with security forces who shot dead one of them in Badgam district of central Kashmir on Saturday, official sources said.

The militants, reportedly led by commander Shaheen, took shelter in the mosque at Panzan village in Chadoora tehsil, about 18 km from Srinagar, after a joint party of the Border Security Force, army and the police zeroed in on their hideout, the sources said.

The militants attacked the troops, which had moved to the village in the wee hours of Saturday following specific information about their presence.

The security personnel fired back killing one of the militants. The remaining militants took shelter inside a mosque and a nearby residential house, the sources said.

Reinforcements were rushed to the scene and the cordon around the mosque and nearby residential houses was further tightened, they said.

At least three militants were present inside the mosque and engaged in the shootout with the search parties.

Firing from both sides was continuing when last reports were received, but there was no report of any fresh casualty.

Senior police and security officials had rushed to the spot to ensure safety of the mosque, they said. Security forces were exercising restraint and were trying to persuade the militants to come out and surrender, they added.

This is the fifth incident of its kind in Kashmir valley in the last five months.

PTI

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