Former Indian Army Man Shot Dead by Suspected Terrorists in Kashmir

The incident took place in the same village where the Indian Army had killed at least three suspected Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorists including the alleged mastermind of the Pulwama attack Kamran Ghazi on 18 February.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — A 25-year-old former Indian Army man was shot dead by suspected terrorists in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday afternoon. A senior police officer from Pulwama district told Sputnik that masked gunmen shot at Ashiq Hussain outside his home in the village of Naik Mohalla Pingleena in Kashmir's Pulwama district. As per the police official Hussain was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

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"He was shot dead outside his home but as per the Indian Army he was not serving in the army", Farooq Ahmed, a Senior Police officer from Pulwama told Sputnik.

A local official told Sputnik that Ashiq Hussain had recently quit his job in the army. He was employed by the Jammu and Kashmir police before joining the Indian Army.

The police official said that a joint team of army and local police had launched a cordon-and-search operation in the area to nab the assailants.

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Earlier this week, General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, Lt Gen K J S Dhillon, said in a press conference that security forces have killed 18 terrorists in the last 21 days.

The Indian Army has launched an all out attack against terrorists since the Pulwama terror attack in which at least 44 Indian soldiers were killed when an explosives-laden vehicle hit a convoy of the Indian Paramilitary force.