Pampore gunbattle still on; boat used by militants to cross Jhelum seized
Srinagar: The gunbattle between security forces and militants holed up inside a multi-storey government building in Pampore, about 16 kilometres from Srinagar, entered the second day on Tuesday. The Army which being assisted by other security forces fired mortars and other projectiles to eliminate the militants.
The operation to flush out the militants was suspended at nigh fall on Monday to avoid casualties and was resumed with the first light on Tuesday. Security forces launched a fresh offensive against militants, who have taken up positions in upper floors of the main block of the Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI).
Smoke seen emanating from the govt building where the standoff is still on. (Photo: DC/H U Naqash)
Meanwhile, security forces have seized the boat which was reportedly used by the militants to cross River Jhelum from one bank to the other before entering the JKEDI campus.
“A boat believed to have been used by terrorists to cross the river from Rakh Shalina side to Sempora has been seized and its owner detained for questioning,” a police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity said.
The officials said that after getting inside the campus, the militants set on fire a few mattresses inside a hostel room to attract the attention of the security forces including a road-opening-party who arrived within minutes of the smoke emanating from the building. There were, however, no fire tenders around, witnesses said. Officials said that the fire tenders were rushed to the area from Srinagar and Pampore but they were not allowed to enter the building due to security reasons.
Since the JKEDI like other institutions is closed for more than three months because of the unrest triggered by the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahedin commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani, no student or faculty or staff member was present when the militants barged into the campus at about 6.30 am.
Security forces near the scene of gunbattle. (Photo: DC/ H U Naqash)
The Army’s Special Forces rushed to the spot from nearby Badami Bagh cantonment where the headquarters of 15 (Chinar) Corps are located. Also, the paramilitary forces personnel and the members of the CRPF and J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) joined them to encircle the campus.
In the initial exchange of fire, a soldier was injured in foot. Heavy exchange of fire continued between the two sides till the night fall. Amid intermittent firing from the holed up militants, the security forces used Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Mortar bombs, Light Machine Guns and small arms in their attempt to flush out the militants but it did not yield the desired result.
The building suffered damage in the firing and shelling and flames and thick smoke could be seen billowing from it from about 500 yards where reporters were stopped by the Army and police officials. Army sources here said that two to three floors of the 7-storeyed building had already been 'sanitized' before the operation was put on hold at nightfall. “It is an inch-by-inch and step-by-step kind of control-gaining operation to avoid casualties as the militants are well positioned inside the building,” said one of the officers.
Before suspending operation at the night fall on Monday, floodlights and other equipment were brought in and used to keep a vigil at and around the campus to prevent the militants from escaping during the night. However, all the security personnel involved in the operation were asked to stay positioned behind these broad-beamed high intensity lights to avoid being seen and targeted by the militants. A similar standoff at the campus had led to the killing of three Army officials and an equal number of militants in fighting about eight months ago.
