A high polling percentage of about 71 percent was recorded in the 18 constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir that went to polls on Tuesday in the second phase of the 5 phase assembly elections.
The gun battle broke out between terrorists and security forces in Wuder Bala area of Handwara, 95 km from Srinagar, in the wee hours after Army launched a search operation in the area, Defence Spokesman Lt Colonel J S Brar said.
Three militants and a soldier were killed and another trooper wounded in a daylong encounter in the Sozipora village near Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.
Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Kupwara district of north Kashmir in the wee hours of Monday morning, a police spokesman said. The encounter broke out when security forces confronted a group of militants at Bhawan forests in Zachaldara area of Handwara, 95 kms from Srinagar, late on Sunday night, the spokesman said. Two militants were killed in the encounter which continued till the wee hours of Monday, he said.
The authorities also sealed the Lal Chowk city centre - the commercial hub of the city - by placing barricades and concertina wires on all entry and exit points leading to the area.
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and four other party leaders were taken into preventive custody ahead of a public meeting in Kupwara district of north Kashmir on Friday, officials said in Srinagar.
A top Lashker-e-Tayiba foreign militant was on Tuesday killed in a gun battle with troops in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Three terrorists were killed during a forest operation at Bona Wudar near Handwara in north Kashmir Kupwara district on Sunday.
Two Pakistani militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) outfit were killed in an encounter with security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, a police spokesman said.
The controversy triggered by the killing of a 70-year-old 'militant' by the army on April 14 in north Kashmir's Kupwara district took a new turn on Saturday, after the district magistrate ordered the exhumation of the slain person's body.On Wednesday, a defence spokesman had said in a press statement said that 'a militant was killed in an encounter with the counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles troops and the local police in Rainawari forest area near Handwara'.
Authorities on Monday lifted restrictions on the movement of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik, who has been under house arrest in Srinagar for the past three months.
One policeman was killed and another wounded in a grenade attack in northern Kashmir on Wednesday evening. According to the police, some militants hurled a grenade at a police patrol party at Kralgund near Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Wednesday evening. Two policemen were injured in the blast."Irfan Ahmad, a head constable, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital while another cop is battling for his life in the hospital," a police officer said.
Despite major successes against militants in Kashmir Valley so far this year, the recent rise in militant attacks in the state has put the security forces on the alert as more such strikes are expected during winter.
Security forces killed three militants in two different operations on Tuesday in north Kashmir, a defence ministry spokesman said. He said troops of 21 Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Operation Group of the Jammu and Kashmir police launched a joint operation at village Chalpora, Handwara, in the frontier district of Kupwara on Tuesday morning.
There were no curbs during the day in over 90 per cent of the Valley with the situation being eased in 92 police station areas in view of the improving situation.
Two terrorists and an army jawan were killed in the latest gunbattle along the Line of Control in Kupwara, taking the number of militants killed in the six-day-long counter-infiltration operations in the north Kashmir district to 13.
The army has gunned down two more intruding militants on the Line of Control in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.
Chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani was placed under house arrest on Wednesday morning, official sources said.\n
A civilian identified as Lal Hussain Gujjar was killed in an exchange of fire between militants. \n
Lone's story has given a boost to the Army's image, which had received a setback after the February 2004 incident in Chittibandy in Baramulla district in which six porters were killed during an anti-militancy operation.
Residents of Handwara town in Kupwara district have accused Rashtriya Rifles personnel of \nraping a mother and her 12-year-old daughter.
The NIA will seek their transit remand and bring them to Delhi for further questioning
A junior commissioned officer and a militant were killed in a fierce gunfight in the forest area of frontier Kupwara district on Tuesday.
Authorities shut down schools and other educational institutions in north Kashmir as a precautionary measure for maintaining law and order.
Main markets and other business establishments across the Valley remained shut and public transport was off the roads.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the second phase of assembly elections in Udhampur and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir on November 28.
An army jawan was also injured in the encounter that began on Saturday night after troops launched a search operation in Khumhair forests of Handwara tehsil.
The stage is set for the second phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir which will seal the fate of 175 candidates, including the deputy speaker, four ministers and 11 other sitting MLAs, amidst tight security in Kulgam and Kupwara districts following the murder of a sarpanch by militants.
Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami, a Special Forces commando of the army who laid down his life while battling militants in Handwara on Thursday, had eliminated 10 terrorists in a short span of 11 days before making the supreme sacrifice in Kashmir.
AMU spokesman Shafay Kidwai said that show cause notices have been issued to nine students for trying to hold an unauthorised gathering Thursday.
The weekly flea market opened in Srinagar on Sunday as several vendors put up their stalls on the TRC Chowk-Polo View axis, the officials said.
Admitting that several party workers, most of them lower-rung activists, have resigned over the last few days following the recent attacks on BJP panchayat members and sarpanches, a BJP leader said some were from Budgam district in central Kashmir.
The policemen were patrolling the area in view of a separatist-sponsored strike.
The police on Tuesday said businessman Mohammad Altaf Bhat was killed in the "cross-firing" between militants and security forces at Hyderpora on Monday, but he would be counted as a "harbourer of terrorists" as he did not inform authorities about the tenants in his building.
On sustained questioning, the SSP said, the trio admitted they are working for Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist outfit and were luring young boys into militancy.
Goswami not only killed two terrorists, but also assisted in neutralising the other two and save the lives of three of his wounded colleagues.
Families of two civilians killed in the Hyderpora encounter in Srinagar held a protest here on Wednesday, demanding justice for the victims and the return of their bodies.
Private cars have come under stone-pelting at many places as the miscreants want to enforce shutdown.
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