None of its candidates won. Most of them lost badly.
The results of assembly elections in the Kashmir Valley have culminated in a significant rejection of separatist candidates, including those from Engineer Rashid-led Awami Ittehad Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, who failed to make a meaningful impact in the polls.
Sopore -- known as the 'apple town' of Kashmir -- is fast gaining notoriety for becoming a safe haven of terrorists, especially of Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba, as it has seen a sudden spurt in violence during the last six weeks.
Curfew was lifted on Friday from Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore town, which witnessed mob violence last week, following an improvement in the situation.
Militants attacked Ghulam Nabi Khan, president of the Sopore trader's federation, in the main chowk of the town on Sunday morning. They shot at Khan, who was critically injured, a senior police official said. "Khan was taken to the local hospital at Sopore where he succumbed to his injuries," the officer said. The area was surrounded by the police and paramilitary forces and a massive hunt was launched to nab the killers, said the police.
A top commander of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba was on Thursday arrested and his close aide was killed in an encounter with security forces in Sopore township of north Kashmir, police said.
Nine-year-old Hurmat Irshad from Sopore has stunned the internet with her extraordinary batting skills.
Two days after militants killed a cop and a civilian in the apple rich north Kashmir's Sopore town, they struck again on Monday evening killing another cop and wounding a civilian.
Reliance on technical intelligence has not been fruitful as terrorists use online activity to mislead authorities. Officials feel that there is an urgent need for heightened surveillance to counter foreign terrorists, especially in the Jammu region.
Militants gunned down a Special Police Officer and critically wounded a trooper of the Territorial Army in north Kashmir's Sopore town on Saturday afternoon. A senior police officer said the attack happened in Brat Kalan locality of Sopore town, 54 km from capital Srinagar.
One militant was killed and five people, including two cops, were injured in a triple militant strike in north Kashmir's Sopore town on Saturday.
The police said it launched an anti-militancy operation in Chanakhan area of Sopore, 55 km from Srinagar, with army's assistance following information about the presence of militants in the area.
"Immediately after the blasts, a group of policemen went outside to locate the place where from the grenades had been fired. Terrorists triggered a pre-planted improvised explosive device they had kept inside a parked scooter when the policemen neared it," the officer said
The Superintendent of Police of Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore district, Altaf Khan, was on Tuesday shifted in the wake of the death of a youth allegedly in police custody in the north Kashmir town on Sunday.
This has also raised concerns over undetected infiltrations from across the Line of Control and terrorists potentially residing in the outskirts of cities and villages, they said.
A cable operator was shot at and killed by unidentified militants inside his house in north Kashmir's apple-rich Sopore town on Friday night.
"Three civilians and a CRPF trooper were injured in the explosion. The injured were taken to hospital for treatment," the spokesman said.
A top terrorist of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba was killed in the nightlong gunfight in north Kashmir's apple rich Sopore town, 54 kms from Srinagar. Security forces had surrounded a house in Sopore's Baghat locality on Monday morning during which the holed up militants fired at them resulting in critical injuries to a policeman and two Rashtriya Rifles troopers.
The security forces eventually blasted the building where he was hiding and firing from, media reports said.
He said troops of 22 Rashtriya Rifles and special operations group (SOG) of the state police jointly surrounded Noorbagh locality of the Sopore town, 54 km from Srinagar on Sunday evening on a specific information.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant, who was allegedly involved in the murder of two teenaged sisters in Sopore town of Baramulla district, was killed by security forces in the apple town on Sunday. Wasim Ahmad Ganaie, who had taken shelter in an underground drainage system in Muslim Peer area of Sopore on Saturday, was killed in the wee hours of Sunday, officials said. The officials said Ganaie was one of the two militants who had abducted and then shot dead Arifa and Akhter.
Samir Ahmad Wani alias Jaan Sahib was killed in a gunbattle with security forces at Nagri Hatmulla in Kupwara district, a police official said.
The body of Bilal Ahmad Wani, the 23-year old youth killed during clashes with Central Reserve Police Force personnel on Friday, was buried in north Kashmir's Sopore town on Monday morning. Angry locals carried the body of the youth to the main chowk, shouting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. Security forces fired warning shots and tear smoke shells and resorted to baton charges to disperse the agitated protestors who were trying to march to the police station.
Three persons were injured, two of them with rubber bullets in post Friday prayer protests in north Kashmir's Sopore town.
An Army captain and two jawans were killed and a militant was gunned down in an encounter between terrorists and security forces in Sopore, the 'apple town' of North Kashmir, which recently witnessed increased incidents of violence.
To effectively deal with the law and order situation, the Jammu and Kashmir government announced the carving out of a separate police district in north Kashmir Sopore town.
"Security forces have neutralised both the militants who were holed up in the camp in a fresh offensive launched this morning after the overnight halt in the operations," a CRPF spokesman said.
The terrorists struck at the police picket in Tujjar Sharief area of Sopore in Baramulla by opening fire.
Terrorists attacked the residence of the Sopore police chief in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday night by hurling grenades and opening fire. However, no one was injured in the attack that occurred at midnight, a senior police officer said.
Stone-pelting protestors clashed with security forces in Sopore town of north Kashmir, forcing Central Reserve Police Force personnel to open fire in which one person succumbed to his injuries.
Two terrorists, including a top commander of the Harkat-ul-Mujaheedin outfit, and a soldier of the Indian Army were killed in a fierce encounter near north Kashmir's Sopore town on Wednesday.
A massive protest broke out in Sopore town of north Kashmir on Tuesday evening as the body of a youth was fished out from Jhelum after he allegedly jumped into the river to escape police action.
Two policemen were arrested on Saturday evening for their alleged involvement in the custodial death of 27-year-old youth Nazim Rashid Shalla in north Kashmir's Sopore town.
Militants on Friday fired rifle grenades targeting an army bunker guarding a camp of the security forces in north Kashmir Sopore town.
Three militants were killed in a fierce gunbattle with security forces in a village at Sopore in north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Monday.
An undertrial Pakistani militant and a police constable were killed, and four security personnel injured, in a blast inside a police vehicle in North Kashmir's Sopore town on Saturday afternoon.
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
Terrorists struck twice in north Kashmir's apple rich town of Sopore on Tuesday wounding two civilians. A police spokesman said the terrorists shot at and injured a shopkeeper identified as Majid Bashir Khan in the Chottabazzar area of Sopore town on Thursday morning."Majid was taken to hospital for treatment with a bullet injury in his left leg", the spokesman said. Security forces rushed to the spot and the area was searched.
Authorities imposed curfew in north Kashmir Sopore and Baramulla towns and curfew-like-restrictions in the summer capital Srinagar to foil separatist called sit-ins and protests Wednesday.
The moderate Hurriyat Conference on Wednesday condemned the killing of two sisters at Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district terming it as an inhuman act. The statement hit back at those who had questioned separatists' silence over the killings.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances