Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): At least eight people were injured after an unexploded shell went off, a few kilometers from the Handwara encounter site, where a deadly overnight gunbattle ended this morning.
Eye-witnesses said that scores of people assembled at Ahgam in Handwara area, a village geographically located on a higher side, from where people were watching the sanitisation operation by security forces. All of a sudden a blast occurred and at least eight people were flat on the ground.
“We immediately whisked the injured away to the nearby medical facility for treatment. Thank God, all are stable,” said an eye-witness. He said it wasn’t clear what caused the explosion but those hurt received splinter injuries.
Residents of Ahgam said that the injured were shifted to Sub-District Hospital Handwara from where two were shifted to Srinagar hospital for advanced treatment.
A police official also said that an explosion has occurred in Ahgam village but stated that the entire police force of the area was busy in sanitising the encounter spot. “We are ascertaining the details what caused the explosion,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Army suffered heavy losses as a Colonel, a Major, two soldiers died along with a J&K police sub-inspector, in the overnight encounter at Changimul, Handwara. Two terrorists were also killed in the gunfight while a residential house was damaged.
