Security forces killed the second militant hiding in a government building in Pampore on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway on Wednesday, bringing to an end an encounter that lasted three days to avoid “collateral damage”.
Lt General Ashok Narula, GOC (Victor Force), said two militants were killed in the operation and two weapons were recovered. He said combing operations were still on. “It was a tricky operation as it is a big building and we did not want to have any collateral damage.”
The standoff between security forces and the militants holed-up inside the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) complex in Pampore entered the third day on Wednesday. The building, in which the militants were holed up since Monday morning, has around 60 rooms and the forces had decided to wait for the gunmen to exhaust their ammunition. Local residents said they heard heavy blasts intermittently throughout the night.
Eyewitnesses said that security forces fired many rounds in the morning targeting the seven-storey hostel building of the complex.The security forces were exercising utmost caution as three special forces personnel, two CRPF men and a civilian lost their lives during the 50-hour standoff at the institute in February. Then, the attackers had captured the main office block, close to the highway.
After the February attack, tenders were floated to build bunkers around the complex. But the work is yet to begin. A tin-fence, erected on the front, was all that the authrotieis did to secure the complex after the incident.
The Jhelum flows behind the complex. The riverside is not properly fenced giving easy access to anybody coming by boat to enter the institute. The militants apparently did precisely that.
Source: HindustanTimes
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