Jammu and Kashmir: Militants give "gun salute" to slain associate at funeral

Srinagar: A group of militants appeared at the funeral of a slain associate and fired a volley of bullets in the air as a form of gun salute in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district Sunday. The incident occurred during the funeral ceremony of Fayaz Ahmed alias Setha, a resident of Qaimoh area of Kulgam, who was killed in retaliation on Saturday after militants fired upon a police party which had gone to Mir Bazaar area to investigate a road accident. Ahmed had been been on the run since August 2015 after his name cropped up in the Udhampur terror strike case. Three civilians and a cop were also killed in the attack on Saturday. At least four militants appeared in the crowd during the funeral and offered a “gun salute” to the slain militant by firing in the air using AK-assault rifles, police officials said. The militants raised some slogans and then fled, the officials said.   [caption id=“attachment_3429450” align=“aligncenter” width=“840”]  Kulgam: Suspected militants brandish their guns and shout slogans at the funeral of a slain colleague, killed in a shootout with the police, at Qoimoh in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Sunday. PTI[/caption] incident comes just a couple of days after the security forces carried out a major combing operation in the neighbouring Shopian district to flush out militants. There have been several instances of militants appearing at the funerals of slain associates in recent times in what appears to have taken the shape of a disturbing trend. The slain militant, at whose funeral the incident occurred, carried a cash reward of Rs two lakh on his head and had been charge-sheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Udhampur terror strike case.