Bandipora encounter; 3 families claim slain militants as their kins

Srinagar :Three families from Kulgam, Shopian, and Kangan on Tuesday claimed that their kin are among the five militants killed on Friday at Sumlar village in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.

The development comes a day after Hizb ul Mujahideen claimed that the militants killed in a gunfight with the forces in Sumlar area of Bandipora were locals and not foreigners as claimed by the government forces.

A family from Kangan area of Ganderbal district in central Kashmir claimed that one of the militants was their kin, Parvez Ahmed Tedwa alias Abu Mawiya.

On September 22, army and police in a joint press conference had said that five militants were killed during a two-day long encounter in Shokhbab Sumlar area.

The army also claimed that latest weaponry was seized from the infiltrators. The army was not sure about the identities of the militants but had suspected them to be foreigners affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba. The bodies were buried at Baramulla besides people in Bandipora staged protests on the very first day claiming that militants were local.