Terrorists attack district police lines in Pulwama, five security personnel martyred

NEW DELHI: Terrorists martyred five security personnel in the Kashmir valley after storming into a police camp on Saturday in their biggest strike on a government compound in the Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in nearly a year.

One of the terrorists, who entered the camp in Pulwama town of south Kashmir, was also killed in the ensuing gunfight, said a senior Army officer who declined to be named.

"So far bodies of two terrorists have been recovered," he added.

Two CRPF personnel and three policemen, including two SPOs, lost the lives in the attack on the compound, which also houses many residential buildings, officials said.

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As the operation began, security forces rescued nearly two dozen families staying there to avoid any hostage situation.

"In the early hours this morning, terrorists entered the

District Police Lines

(DPL) Pulwama and they entered the family quarters. There were a lot of families there.

"In the initial action, we have lost JK police constable and two CRPF personnel," General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, Lt Gen JS Sandhu, told reporters in Srinagar.

It is a "fidayeen" (suicide) attack, he said, adding it was too early to ascertain the identity of the terrorits.

The GoC said while few police personnel where still inside one of the blocks of the DPL, there was no hostage situation.

"No, we do not have a hostage situation in Pulwama. There were families in those blocks, but we have taken them out and right now, the terrorists are there. In one of the blocks, there are a few policemen, but that is all. We will be able to handle it," he said.

A police official said that one of terrorists came out of a building and fired indiscriminately during the encounter.

"He was gunned down on the spot. His body is lying near a building," the official said.

He said the exchange of firing between the terrorists and security forces is going on.

"The firing is coming from three directions, indicating that there might be three more terrorists holed up in those buildings," the official said, adding para commandos have been pressed into action.

The authorities have suspended mobile internet services in the district as a precautionary measure.

The attack on the police complex is the biggest on a state security facility since September 18 last year, when armed terrorists broke into an Army camp near the de facto border, called the Line of Control (LoC), in Uri, killing 18 army personnel.

Indian troops have killed 134 terrorists, including 7 top commanders, this year, officials said. Majority of these militants were eliminated in the last two months after security forces doubled down on an offensive in south Kashmir and along the LoC.

Last year, 150 terrorists were killed in Kashmir. About 79 terrorists infiltrated in July, according to officials.

(with input from agencies)
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