SRINAGAR: A 20-hour gun battle, which followed a fidayeen (suicide squad) attack on the Central Reserve Police Force headquarters here on Wednesday, ended on Thursday with the killing of the two militants involved in the attack. Five policemen, two CRPF personnel and a civilian were killed, while 15 others were injured.

The operation to flush out the Al Mansooreen militants holed up in a nearby hotel, launched jointly by the Jammu and Kashmir police and the CRPF, resumed early on Thursday.

After security guards repulsed the attack on Wednesday, people were evacuated from the densely populated Budshah Chowk area and a siege was laid to the hotel where the militants were hiding. After a heavy exchange of fire the two were shot dead. One militant was killed inside the hotel, while the other was shot while he tried to escape.

The mace of Lord Shiva is kept in the Dashnami Akhara, which houses the CRPF battalion headquarters.

Director-General of Police Gopal Sharma said five Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel, two CRPF jawans, the two militants and a civilian were killed.

Fifteen others, mostly security personnel were injured. He said the encounter lasted about an hour. However, the operation was called off only late in the afternoon.

Mr. Sharma said only two militants were involved in the attack.

Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Basharat Ahmad Dhar, IGP Kashmir S.M. Sahai and a host of officers paid their respects to the slain personnel.

An Al Mansooreen spokesperson told newspapers that more such attacks would be carried out till the alleged human rights violations in the Valley stopped.

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