Two militants of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba and a soldier were killed and another soldier injured in a 24-hour-long fierce gun battle in south Kashmir, official sources said on Friday.\n\n
'In one instance of the Pakistani army's violation of the Ceasefire, I ordered a far tougher response designed to deter the enemy.' 'I warned that 'unexpected damage' to their forces will be inflicted if they continued with such ceasefire violations.' A fascinating excerpt from Lieutenant General K Himalay Singh's Making of a General: A Himalayan Echo.
Areas falling under the jurisdiction of 11 police stations Srinagar were also placed under curfew.
Two top militants of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen were shot dead by security forces in Pulwama district on Saturday morning, a defence spokesman said.
The gun battle broke out at Imamsahib in Shopian, around 60 km from Srinagar, when troops engaged in combing operation were fired upon, the sources said.
An eerie silence prevails with concertina wire barricades laid on deserted streets and police and armed forces personnel allowing civilians to move only after thorough checking.
5 ultras killed, 4 arrested, 60 kg explosives seized in J&K
The Valley, which was brought under a virtual curfew with communication networks snapped on August 5 after the government abrogated special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has seen little difference in the last seven weeks as public transport is still not available and schools waiting for students to collect assignments.
Here are some of the big political leaders' who await their fate on Monday.
Basit Mukhtar was injured by a tear gas shell in clashes on September 5.
Curfew continued in parts of Srinagar on Saturday in view of the separatists' call for occupying Lal Chowk and Airport Road here while curfew-like restrictions remained in force in rest of Kashmir even as normal life remained paralysed for the 57th day.
The necessary formalities were being completed in Jammu as well as in the national capital before the probe agency, which has been credited with breaking the nexus between stone-pelters and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, takes over the case, officials said.
In an audacious move, 11 young Kashmiri militants donning army fatigues and holding firearms, posted their photographs on Facebook, forcing the security forces to sit up and take notice.
The idea of the road's revival was floated in 1979 by then chief minister Sheikh Abdullah.
Shaurya Chakra is usually awarded to armed forces and para-military personnel for 'gallantry otherwise in the face of the enemy'.
Security personnel in Shopian town were the target, but those who got hurt were civilians.
Curfew was lifted on Tuesday across Kashmir, except from six police station areas of Srinagar, in view of the improving situation, even as normal life remained disrupted in the Valley for the 74th straight day.
The panel had first visited the Valley in October after which it had recommended an immediate ban on use of pellet guns by security forces.
The cash transactions have been stopped at the branches belonging to the Jammu and Kashmir Bank and Ellaquai Dehati Bank.
The camp is located in Gagran village at Shopian in Pulwama district.
In the stone-pelting, SSP Doda, one SHO, one sub-inspector and two other police personnel were injured.
For a Valley on the boil, there is ample proof that New Delhi simply does not care.
'The return of violence in Kashmir justifies government precautions, but risk has to be taken.' 'We need to act and ensure that risk is converted to gain through direct interaction with Kashmir's public,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The mood was subdued with roads deserted across large swathes of the Valley, the silence broken only by police sirens and Indian Air Force helicopters hovering overhead.
'If I see anyone taking the wrong path, I will stop him or her.'
The authorities had on Tuesday lifted curfew across Kashmir except from six police station areas of the city.
At least 11 people, including two army jawans, were killed while over 100 others were evacuated to safety as the unprecedented snowfall in March triggered avalanches and damaged over 150 structures including dozens of houses in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ongoing violence in the valley is driving students to excel, but it is also making them angry, discovers Ritwik Sharma.
Security agencies braced for a march called by separatists on Monday.
Curfew was on Sunday lifted from all parts of Kashmir but normal life in the Valley remained affected due to the strike call given by hardline Hurriyat Conference to protest against the firing incident in Ramban district that left four persons dead.
Two terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Sopore area of north Kashmir, taking the toll to eight in the last four days of counter-insurgency operations.
'The army is using its might to teach them a lesson'
In yet another audacious move, the banned Hizbul Mujahideen has uploaded a video of its militants training in army fatigues with assault rifles and cracking jokes on a social networking site, seen as a "psychological warfare" against the security forces.
In a major blow to the commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Burhan Wani's close aide, Tariq Pandita, surrendered before security forces in south Kashmir on Saturday.
A CRPF vehicle had suffered slight damage when a Santro car went up in flames after an explosion at Tethar village, seven km from Banihal, shortly after a Jammu-bound convoy crossed the Jawahar Tunnel, the gateway to Kashmir valley.
