India, Sept. 30 -- In a rare development of its kind, Army in Kashmir has confirmed that the three youth killed in an encounter at Amshipora in Shopian were three civilians from Rajouri in Jammu. The finding followed an internal probe into the incident.

In a statement issued to the press, the Army said that "during the operation, powers vested under the AFSPA 1990 were exceeded," and that "the dos and don'ts of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) as approved by the Hon'ble Supreme Court have been contravened" in the course of the operation.

"The inquiry has prima facie indicated that the three unidentified terrorists killed in Op Amshipora were Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohd Ibrar, who hailed from Rajouri," Army statement read.

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