SRINAGAR In a broad daylight attack, militants struck on a busy road in Anantnag town Wednesday, killing five CRPF personnel, including an officer, and injuring three others. Station House Officer of Saddar Police station was also injured when motorcycle-borne militants fired at a joint patrol of CRPF and police at Khanabal-Pahalgham stretch, famously known as KP Road, killing one personnel on the spot and wounding few others, reports said.
According to the reports, a joint team of the company of CRPF’s 116th battalion and state police were deployed for a picket duty in the area when the attack took place.
The patrol party of the CRPF retaliated and in the ensuing gunfight four more CRPF personnel were killed while 3 others were injured. Injured were evacuated to 92 Base hospital, where four of them later succumbed to their wounds.
Immediately additional forces, led by Station House Officer of Saddar police station in Anantnag Arshad Ahmed, reached the spot but had to face indiscriminate firing from the militants who also hurled grenades at them. A pedestrian woman was also injured in the attack, one report said.
In the gunfight, one militant was killed while another is believed to have escaped, the officials said.
SHO Ahmed was also injured in the attack and has been shifted to Srinagar for treatment, they said.
This is a major militant strike after February Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel. Todays attack comes less than three weeks before the commencement of the annual Amaranth yatra to the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Jammu and Kashmir Police had shared an intelligence input about a possible strike on government forces around the general bus stand which is located on KP road.
The slain CRPF personnel were identified as ASI Neeru Sharma, Constable Sitender Kumar, Constable M K Kushwa, ASI Ramesh Kumar, and Constable Mahesh Kumar.
Police speaks
A police spokesman said that militants carried out a stand-off firing attack at K.P Road at about 1650 hours.
In this incident, 05 CRPF personnel were killed while repulsing the attack. Further in this incident 03 security force personnel including SHO Anantnag Inspector Arshid Khan sustained gunshot injuries.
He added: In the retaliatory action, the militant was gunned down on the spot. From the materials recovered, it is found that the dead militant was a foreigner.
DGP Visits Injured
The Director General Police, J&K, Dilbag Singh visited 92 Base Hospital BB Cantonment at Srinagar on Wednesday evening and enquired about the health of personnel injured in the Anantnag attack.
He met the doctors treating the injured and impressed for all possible treatment for their early recovery.
The DGP also met the CRPF and a police personnel injured in Sopore encounter.
DGP was accompanied by DIG CKR Shri V.K. Birdhi and SP East Srinagar. Earlier IGP Kashmir Shri S.P. Pani visited the hospital to know the welfare of injured personnel.
Al-Umer claims responsibility
Al-Umar Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attack on the joint team of police and CRPF at KP road Anantnag in south Kashmir.
In a tele-statement to local news agencies, Al-Umar Mujahideen spokesperson said that its cadres carried out the attack on the forces party in which five personnel were killed.
The spokesperson threatened to carry more attacks in the near future.
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