Woman among LeT militants killed in Doda

 Jammu: Three Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, including a self-styled commander and his woman accomplice, were killed in a gunbattle with security forces in mountainous Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir this morning, an official spokesman said.

A counter-insurgency party of Rashtriya Rifles and state police zeroed encountered militants at Bhart area of Doda, about 160 kms North-East from here.

‘’As the troops approached a ‘dhok’ (temporary cattle shed) they were fired upon by the hiding militants and in the subsequent gun battle two militants were killed,’’ defence spokesman Lt Col Biplab Nath told UNI.

The LeT militants, identified as Shahbaz, a self-styled ‘battalion commander’ of the outfit and his associate Kuber were killed in the encounter while his critically wounded woman accomplice was shifted to the hospital where she later succumbed, sources said.

The young woman, identified as Zahida Bano, in her early 20s, was a close accomplice of Shahbaz, who was seen with the LeT commander several times, sources said.

Both the LeT militants were active in the forested area of Bhart and were responsible for many crimes, senior superintendent of police (Doda) Parbhat Singh said, claiming the elimination militants as a big success for the security forces.

Two AK-47 rifles were recovered from the site of encounter.