Deadly gunfight between police and rebels in Kashmir

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At least three fighters were killed and a policeman sustained injuries during a gunfight between rebels and security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said on Friday.

“So far three terrorists have been gunned down,” a Jammu and Kashmir police spokesperson told Al Jazeera. “One policeman was also injured in the gunfight.”

Police said the gun battle triggered early on Friday morning at around 5:00am (local time) after police intercepted a Srinagar-bound goods truck near toll plaza in Nagrota on the outskirts of southern city of Jammu.

The rebels on board the truck fired on police triggering an encounter, police said.

A senior police officer said that as of now the gunfight has stopped but we have cordoned the area and search operation is going on.

“We are searching the area to check if there might be a fourth terrorist as well,” said Mukesh Singh, Inspector General of Police Jammu.

Authorities have suspended traffic on the main road in wake of the firing.

Local media reported that as a precautionary measure, authorities also ordered closure of schools in Nagrota.

Bilal Kuchay contributed to this report from New Delhi

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

ISIS sleeper cells attack Iraqi army in disputed Kirkuk, kill 2 soldiers

An Iraqi tank on a front line. (Photo: Archive)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Islamic State sleeper cells launched an attack on an Iraqi army position in the southern outskirts of Kirkuk on Wednesday, killing at least two soldiers, according to security sources.

The Islamic State militants launched their attack late on Wednesday night at an army post in Kirkuk on the road between Daquq and the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, security sources told Kurdistan 24.

According to the sources, violent clashes erupted between the terrorists and members of the Iraqi army. At least two soldiers were killed in the altercation.

Iraq’s security media cell later revealed in a statement that the Islamic State attack had targeted the fourth company in the first regiment of the 45th Army Brigade. The statement also confirmed the two deaths.

Neither the security sources nor the media cell mentioned whether the clashes had caused casualties among the terror group.

Another security source said the Islamic State sleeper cells had ambushed the army, which prompted the soldiers to respond by opening fire.

This is the second attack by the so-called Islamic State against the Iraqi army in Kirkuk within a week.

Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State in 2017, but senior military leaders have warned that the organization is still maintaining activity through sleeper cells, exercising the strongest influence in tracts rural Iraq.

From their hideouts in bleak and inhospitable parts of the country, the terror group’s sleeper cells have planned and launched a series of attacks on security forces in Nineveh, Anbar, Salahuddin, Diyala, and Kirkuk provinces.