3 militants killed at SOG camp
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Dec 28 — At least six police personnel, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, were killed and over 12 others injured in the militants’ attack on the headquarters of Special Operations Group (SOG) of the state police here during the past 24 hours.

Three militants involved in the attack were also killed in the night-long operation, according to Mr A.K. Bhan, Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir Range. Talking to reporters, Mr Bhan said the operation was delayed because “we wanted all police and CRPF personnel inside the complex to be evacuated”. In the night-long operation, all inmates of the complex taken hostage by the militants were evacuated”, a police spokesman stated here today.

Giving details of the incident, the IG said three militants holed up in the building were killed in a joint operation of the police, CRPF, BSF and the Army.

Those killed include Gansham, Deputy Superintendent of the Special Task Force, two SOG personnel, and two CRPF jawans. Those injured included a civilian, Parvez Ahmad, and his minor daughter, who had gone to the headquarters to meet a relative in custody there, sources here said.

Immediately after the attack, the whole area was cordoned off by the police and the security forces. The Army was called to assist the police and the paramilitary forces to nab the intruders. But the Army, according to sources, declined to storm the building to overcome the armed militants, whose identity was yet to be disclosed.

Harkar-ul-Mujahideen, a militant outfit, has owned the responsibility of the attack.

Tension gripped the localities of Haft Chinar, Solina, Aloochi Bagh and Hazoori Bagh around the SOG headquarters throughout the night. Residents said firing and explosion sounds continued throughout the night. Loud explosions were heard at about 4 a.m. today morning, Imtiyaz Ahmed of Aloochi Bagh said.

Traffic on the Indira Gandhi airport road has been stopped. No vehicular and pedestrian traffic was allowed from Naaz crossing on one side and Tulsi Bagh crossing on the other side.

PTI adds: All inmates held hostage by militants inside the SOG headquarters were rescued here on Tuesday with the gun fight still on, a senior police officer said.

“All inmates of the complex taken hostage by the militants were evacuated after a night-long operation,” the Inspector-General of Police, Mr A.K.Bhan said.

Security forces took positions inside and outside the building where the militants were holed up, he said, adding that the exchange of fire was on.

Nearly 150 CRPF and SOG personnel were present inside the building which was stormed by two heavily-armed Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militants at Haftichinar around 5.30 p.m. yesterday, Mr Bhan said.

Earlier, the number of militants, who stormed the headquarters, was put at three or four.

The policemen trapped inside the building had begun coming out of it since early today, official sources said. Half the building had been searched and the injured evacuated.

Sources said the militants had occupied the “koth” (room where arms and ammunition are dumped). Army help had been sought and action by commandos was not being ruled out.

The sources said the death toll may go up as the operation to clear the debris had just commenced.

They said the security forces had entered the building after silencing the militant guns by using mortars, grenades and rockets.

A portion of the building was totally damaged in the shelling and the resultant fire had engulfed some ammunition causing blasts at regular intervals, he said.

Efforts were on to retrieve the bodies of those killed, including the DSP and the militants. Bodies of only two security personnel — Ashok Kumar of the CRPF and Javid Ahmed of the SOG — had been recovered so far.

Inspector Poshkar Nath, who was among the first to come out of the besieged building on Tuesday, informed the authorities about the casualties inside the building.

Nath had hidden himself in a toilet during the night.

UNI: Meanwhile, five militants, including two foreigners, were among eight killed in the Kashmir valley since Monday.

Official sources said militants shot dead Mohammad Ashraf Khan at Rangar Hamam Khanyar on Tuesday.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said troops came under heavy fire during a search operation at Zazuna in Manasbal area of Ganderbal tehsil on Tuesday. The troops immediately retaliated and in the ensuing battle four militants, including two foreigners, were killed. Some arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants.

The forces also gunned down a militant in an encounter at a village in the frontier district of Kupwara on Monday.

One killed in Jammu blast

JAMMU, Dec 28 (PTI) — At least one person was killed and two injured when a powerful bomb planted by suspected militants exploded late tonight at a bus terminus here, about 6 km from a jail housing Maulana Masood Azhar whose release has been demanded by hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane.

Official sources said the blast took place inside a bus, which had arrived from Kisthwar town of Doda district, parked at the terminus, setting it and two other vehicles nearby aflame.

The conductor of the bus who was seriously injured in the blast later succumbed to his injuries. The driver, who was also wounded, was battling for his life in hospital, the sources said.

The entire area was sealed to trace those responsible for the blast.

Meanwhile, a five-tier security ring was thrown around the Kotbalwal jail following a red alert that militants might make an abortive attempt to secure the release of Azhar, who has been in jail since his arrest in 1994.