Army major, soldier killed in Kashmir gunfight

An army officer and a soldier succumbed to injuries sustained in a gun battle between separatist guerrillas and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said yesterday.
A raiding party of the army and local police was moved out Tuesday night to lay a cordon in Chatibandi village in the district following specific information that a group of militants was hiding there, police added.
'The operation was launched on specific intelligence and as the troops were closing in on the target area, they were fired upon by terrorists resulting in injures to one officer and one soldier.
They later succumbed to their injuries in the military hospital,' Defence spokesperson Lt Col JS Brar said in a statement.
'Major Yogendra Rajbar and Rifleman Uttam Singh were martyred in an encounter last (Tuesday) night,' Brar added.