Security forces had to call off anti-terror operations in residential houses at two places in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Wednesday when sympathisers of the terrorists threw stones at their personnel to prevent them from taking on the terrorists, reports said.
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However, state police officials said operations were called off only when the forces learnt there were no militants present there. Intelligence reports had confirmed the presence of terrorists in the two houses. An intelligence officer said the forces were instructed by the state administration to call off the operation following intense stone-pelting by sympathisers.
According to official sources, security personnel ¡ª Army, CRPF and police ¡ª cordoned off Tarigam village in Kulgam district on Wednesday morning on receiving inputs about the presence of militants in a residential house.
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"As searches started, the locals, including women, came out of their houses and held protests. The locals hurled stones at forces involved in counter-insurgency operations and tried to break the cordon to give a safe passage to militants who were supposedly trapped there," the official sources said.
The sympathisers continuously threw stones though police used teargas shells and fired in the air to disperse protesters, official sources said, adding that clashes between the two sides continued for several hours and a few persons were reported to be injured.
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Following continued clashes, the forces were instructed to call off the operation in Tarigam village to avoid civilian casualties, official sources said.
Similar clashes erupted on Wednesday in the Qaimoh area of Kulgam after forces launched a cordon-and-search operation to neutralise militants suspected to be present in Makhdoom Mohalla, in south Kashmir's Kulgam.
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According to sources, here, too, locals emerged from their houses and disrupted the operation by hurling forces with stones. The forces responded with teargas shells. Some women were reported to have been injured in the clashes. Due to clashes, the anti-militant operation at Qaimoh, too, was called off.Sources said minor stone-pelting incidents were also reported from Kakpora area in Pulwama as well in the wake of the two operations in adjacent Kulgam district.