Srinagar: The encounter between three Jash-e-Mohammad ‘fidayeens’ and government forces inside district police complex in south Kashmir’s Pulwama ended on Sunday. In all, eleven people were killed and include four from police department and as many personnel of paramilitary CRPF besides the militants. At least eight other uniformed personnel, three each from JKP and CRPF and two from army, were injured in the gunfight which ensued after the Jash-e-Mohammad trio stormed into the district police lines complex in Pulwama, at the crack of dawn on Saturday.
A police official said here that the bodies of all three militants were recovered and they were foreigners. Identified as Abu Saad, Dawood and Al Bakr, the trio were buried in Baramulla as part of government’s strategy after death of Lashker-e-Toiba’s Abu Qasim in whose funeral tens of thousands of people participated. Abdul Rehman alias Abu Qasim, was killed on October 29, 2015.
As reported already, the militants stormed into the police lines at dawn and attacked the SOG, CRPF barracks, killing one SOG personnel and injuring six others including five CRPF men and one policeman in the initial assault. The injured were immediately shifted to army’s Srinagar base hospital where two CRPF personnel succumbed later in the day.
The militants took positions in the residential quarters adjacent to the SOG buildings and engaged the government forces.
About one kilometer area of the police lines was sealed by government forces and Internet was snapped in the entire district. Huge blasts were heard during the exchange of firing.
The firing intensified in the afternoon in which three more policemen were killed taking the toll of forces personnel to six. Two militants also died in the exchange of firing, officials said.
Two more CRPF men were killed at the dusk of the encounter when they were defusing an improvised explosive device planted by the militants.
The slain men from police department were identified as Constable Imtiyaz Ahmad, SPO Mohammad Yousuf Hajam, SPO Rafiq Ahmad Hajam and nursing orderly Amarjeet Singh.
DGP J&K Dr S.P. Vaid led Police and other force officers in paying last respects to men from police department at district police lines near Awantipora in outskirts of Srinagar.
Official say three blocks of the police lines were damaged as the government forces blasted them to kill the hiding militants. About 35 families were evacuated from these three blocks.
As the encounter was on, youth took to streets in main town and clashed with government forces. They pelted stones on government forces who lobbed shells on youth and fired bullets in air. Complete shutdown was observed in most parts of the district amid the gunfight.
Militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad already claimed responsibility , saying its cadres stormed into CRPF camp stationed at district police lines Pulwama and inflicted casualties upon the armed forces.
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