Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police search for militants who attacked a BSNL telecom franchise at Sopore.

A former militant was gunned down in Sopore town of north Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, the sixth in a series of mysterious killings in the region by unidentified gunmen.
 
This was the fourth killing by suspected militants in the town in Baramulla district in a week.
 
Former militant Aijaz Ahmad Resh was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Mundji area of Sopore. Resh was the second former militant to be killed in the town since Sunday.
 
On Sunday, another former militant Mairaj-ul-din Dar was shot near his shop at Badami Bagh in Sopore. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died. 
 
Dar was a former member of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) who had become a petty businessman and was running a poultry farm. He was survived by his wife and two daughters. 
 
The killing occurred just two days after another shopkeeper, Altaf-ul-Rahman, was shot by suspected militants on Friday night. A government employee, who was an activist of the hardline Hurriyat conference, was killed on Tuesday.

Baramulla observed a shutdown over the killing of Altaf-ul-Rahman. 
 
Monday’s killing took the death toll in Sopore to six since a BSNL employee was shot dead on May 25.
 
In the first attack, the BSNL employee was killed and two more were injured when unidentified gunmen struck a showroom in Sopore. Another person hosting a mobile tower atop his house was killed a day later. 
 
A hitherto unheard of militant group, the Lashkar-e-Islam, claimed responsibility for the attacks. 
 
Police claimed they had identified some local youngsters associated with the indigenous terror group Hizbul Mujahideen who were targeting telecom workers and infrastructure in a string of attacks that began last month, disrupting communications in the trouble-torn state.
 
Police had earlier said the Lashkar-e-Islam is a front for the Hizb, though Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salauddin had condemned the attacks. 
 
Some reports from Sopore suggested a rouge militant group headed by a local commander is behind the attacks.
 
This militant group has been warning people that they will face severe punishment if they do not follow its diktats on stopping cable television and closing down liquor shops.

Two weeks after attacks on telecom companies, militants have killed a supporter of the hardline Hurriyat Conference in Sopore on Tuesday.

According to a police spokesman, unidentified gunmen shot dead Altaf Ahmad Sheikh, son of Mohammad Yusuf. The victim was a senior Jamat-e-Islami district president and an aide of Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
He was a government employee working in the health department but has been on the police radar for some time.
“Altaf was arrested after attacks on telecom operators, but was later released after his involvement was ruled out,” a source said.
Initial investigation, police say, points towards the militant organisation Lashkar-e-Islam. “The same group which carried out attacks on telecom companies is involved,” said Javed Gillani, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range). 
“It seems to be in retaliation against Geelani’s statement condemning attacks on telecom companies as the deceased is his known supporter and worker,” Gillani added.
According to reports, some local militant commanders were unhappy with the separatist leader’s reaction to the attacks.
Geelani had condemned the attacks and announced that those involved in the killings were “enemies of the separatist cause.”
The attacks were also condemned by Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, apparently for creating a rift between the local militants and the leadership across the border.  
While police had said the attacks on telecom companies were carried out by indigenous Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Islam was a front for the banned organisation, sources suggested a local militant commander Qayuum ‘Najar’, a resident of Sopore, was involved.
The group which was till recently unknown, had also accused separatist leader Geelani’s workers of getting four militants killed in Sopore.
Justifying attacks on the telecommunication system, the outfit’s spokesman said, “Due to telecommunication network, a lot of militants were killed, including two militants from Palhallan. Though Allah gave us ability to understand this nuisance (telecom network), the brothers who come from Pakistan for us are unaware. Laskhar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad were most affected due to this nuisance.”
Meanwhile, Geelani has called for a complete shutdown in Baramulla on Wednesday against the killing.

Source: WHN Media Network