Policeman, civilian shot at by militants in Anantnag, Pulwama

IS says it’s behind another killing

One policeman was killed and another injured in twin attacks carried out by militants in south Kashmir on Saturday. Also, the Islamic State (IS) said it was responsible for the killing of a policeman in Anantnag two days ago.

Militants fired at a Special Police Officer, Muhammad Ashraf, from a close range at 4.25 p.m. near Muran Chowk in Pulwama where he was on a private visit.

“Ashraf was critically injured and died on the way to hospital,” a police official said.

Ashraf of Mouchpona village was a militant earlier and had joined the police as an SPO in Srinagar. “We suspect the hand of militants behind the killing,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, Mohammad Aslam Choudhary said.

A civilian was injured in the attack, but his condition is stable, a local official said.

Earlier in the day, another SPO, Turag Singh, was fired at in Anantnag. He received “critical injuries”. “The policeman was regulating traffic when he was attacked,” a police official said.

IS claim

Amaq, the Islamic State’s online news organisation, said the outfit had killed a policeman in Bijbehara on Thursday evening.

In an Arabic message posted online, the group said the attack was carried out by its men belonging to the IS-J&K, said a counter-insurgency officer. “The veracity of the claim is being investigated. Amaq apparently represents the IS, but any online claims remain a matter of investigation till conclusive technical evidence is established,” a senior police official said.

It’s the third time that the IS-J&K has been mentioned as a group behind attacks on security forces in Kashmir.

The IS’s first such claim through Amaq was reported on November 19, 2017, after a shoot-out at Zakura in Srinagar, which left a policeman and a militant dead. The body of the slain militant was then wrapped in a black flag similar to the flag of the IS in Iraq and Syria.

In March, Amaq said its men carried out the killing of a policeman at Soura in Srinagar on February 25. The deceased policeman was guarding the house of separatist leader Fazul-Haq Qureshi.

Both the Central and State security agencies had in the past discounted the presence of the IS or the Al-Qaeda in J&K.