Violence continued to flare up in Kashmir Valley with militants striking at multiple locations over the last two days. The encounter between security forces and militants in a government institute on the outskirts of Srinagar continued for the second day, with one terrorist believed to have been killed by Tuesday evening.
Earlier in the day, a CRPF patrol was attacked less than 50 kilometres from there.
According to officials, a grenade was thrown at a patrol in Bona Bazar in Shopian. Two jawans and seven civilians were injured and have been admitted to a hospital, police officials said.
In Pampore, the stand-off between security forces and terrorists, holed up in the government institute, continued with sporadic firing through Monday night.
About 2-3 terrorists got into the government run Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) complex on Monday morning and an encounter began soon after in which one soldier was injured.
The Army initially used mortar shells and Light Machine Guns to flush out the terrorists. Officials said that by Monday evening the terrorists had been localised to one part of the building. “Searching 60 rooms takes time. There is a possibility of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) in the doors. So search teams are extra cautious,” one officer added.
The institute has been shut due to the ongoing unrest in the Valley, hence there was no one inside. “They went in and took shelter and attracted our attention,” another officer in Srinagar told The Hindu . He observed that they may be having other designs to cause casualties as the Army moves in and added, “We have decided not to rush in based on our experience of the last encounter.”
The terrorists are believed to have entered the institute from the riverside. The EDI, which imparts vocational training, was targeted once before in February this year when three Army commandos, including two officers, were killed. The gun battle that stretched for over 48 hours, ended with the killing of all three terrorists.
(With inputs from PTI)
