Click to play videoSrinagar: An Army officer and three suspected militants were on Friday killed in a gun battle in Bandipora district in north Kashmir.
At Bandipora, an Army officer identified as Lt Col Chauhan was killed and two BSF personnel were injured when militants opened fire on security forces from a shopping complex in the market, officials said.
The security forces retaliated, killing three suspected militant, they said adding that two floors of the four-storey complex caught fire during the gun battle.
The local people, however, claimed the three militants were civilians and staged a protest.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the family of Lt Col Chauhan.
The Army also averted an attack on people taking part in the Amarnath Yatra by defusing three IEDs planted by militants at Banihal in Doda district on the Jammu-Srinagar highway that is being used by the pilgrims.
At Kupwara, the Army foiled an infiltration bid by killing eight militants that officials said were part of a "large group".
In another incident, security forces gunned down Abu Usama, the Lashker-e-Toiba commander of Pulwama, at Sehpora village, officals said.
Army officials in Jammu said an attack on pilgrims participating in the annual trek to Amarnath was averted when troops defused three IEDs on the Jammu-Srinagar highway just before the yatris were to pass through the area.
Traffic on the highway was briefly halted after the detection of the three devices weighing five kg at 0919 hrs (IST). The IEDs were found before convoy of 54 vehicles carrying 1,578 pilgrims from Jammu passed the area.
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