Combing operation on in Sopore to flush out Laskhar militant

A massive combing operation is on in a village in Sopore to flush out militants reportedly holed up in a residential area. The operation was started early morning after gun shots were heard from Warpora village about 55 kilometers from Srinagar.

Police has evacuated the civilians and is searching the area, after inputs that top Lashkar commander and one of the most wanted militants in the valley Abdullah Unna might be holed up there. Unna is also said to be the chief of suicide missions in the valley. According to reports Unni has escaped three previous encounters.

``We have reports that two militants can be holed up in some residential house but don’t know where exactly. There are reports that one of the militants might be Abdullah Unni,’’ said Altaf Khan, the area Superintendent of Police.

``It was early in the morning we heard gun shots and cordoned the area and evacuated the civilians. Search for the militants is on,’’ he added.

According to police they had reports that two militants were holed up in the village. Sopore has witnessed a sudden spurt in militant violence in the past one month with attacks on policemen and militants lobbing grenades and planting IEDs.

Locals however say the militants might have fled as the firing has stopped since a few hours.