Srinagar: At least 23 civilians, including 17 non-locals, have been killed in militancy-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir this year.
Among the six slain locals, one person was killed during an encounter, while another, who was shot dead by militants, was affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Data available from the news agency Kashmir News Trust reveals that at least 37 civilians, including 22 non-locals, have also been injured in militancy-related incidents.
This year, militants shot dead two non-local men from Punjab, Amritpal Singh and Rohit Mashi, in Srinagar’s Shaheed Gunj area. A non-local vendor, Raja Shah Shankar from Bihar, was killed in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag. Muhammad Razaq, a government employee and brother of a Territorial Army soldier, was killed by militants in Kundar village, Thanamandi, Rajouri. A BJP sarpanch, Aijaz Sheikh, was gunned down at his home in Heerpora, Shopian.
At least ten pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were killed, and twelve others injured, after suspected militants fired upon a bus en route to Katra from Shiv Khori Ramsou in Pouni, Reasi district, Jammu. A civilian, Abdul Rashid, was killed during an encounter in the Ahlan Gagarmandu forest area of Kokernag. Militants also shot dead Ashok Chauhan, a non-local laborer from Bihar, in Wandana Malhora, South Kashmir’s Shopian. Seven civilians, including three migrant workers, were killed in Gagangeer, Sonamarg, while five non-locals sustained injuries in the same attack.
In addition to civilian fatalities, several people were injured. A non-local cab driver, DilrananJeet Singh from Dehradun, was injured in a shooting in Borihalan village, Shopian. Another civilian was injured in a gunfight in Nowpora Sopore, Baramulla. A Jaipur couple was shot and injured in Yannar, Anantnag. In Saida Sukhal village, Hiranagar, Kathua, a civilian was injured in militant firing, and another was injured in Gundhah village, Rajouri. A civilian was injured in an encounter in the Ahlan Gagarmandu forest area of Kokernag. Two migrant workers from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Usman and Sufiyan, were injured in an attack in Mazhom Magam, Budgam, while a dozen people were injured in a grenade attack at TRC, Srinagar.
Furthermore, a 28-year-old worker, Vasudev from Akhnoor, was killed in a mistaken identity incident by the BSF near Regal Chowk along the international border in Samba district, Jammu region.
[Kashmir News Trust]
