Army storms mosque

By Shujaat Bukhari

ANANTNAG, JUNE 13. After a 40-hour standoff in village Shangus, all the six militants holed up in the Jamai mosque were killed today when the Army stormed in with sharp-shooters. One soldier lost his life and two were injured in the operation.

The operation, launched by 7 Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir police on Sunday, was called off early this morning after two more militants were killed. Of the six militants killed, four are from the Lashkar-e- Taiba and two from the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

A report here suggested that National Security Guard (NSG) commandos were airlifted from Delhi. The Army spokesperson was silent on this but said that sharp-shooters were pressed into service to flush out the militants.He said that on Sunday on specific information the area was cordoned off but the militants opened fire killing a special police official (SPO) and later took shelter in the mosque.

``Keeping in view the sanctity of the religious place and sentiments of the people, the area was cordoned off and the security forces did not pursue the militants in the mosque,'' he said. ``They instead brought down a heavy volume of fire from inside the mosque.'' Exercising maximum restraint and patience the security forces continued the cordon for 36 hours during which the militants kept firing, injuring one civilian. With the militants not responding to the appeals, the security forces with the help of Army's sharp troopers killed two to three militants and later used teargas shells to flush them out. Around midnight two militants made a last-ditch effort to break the cordon but were killed. On searching, bodies of more militants were recovered. One security force personnel got killed and two others were injured, the spokesperson said.

For the second consecutive day today, journalists were not allowed to entry beyond Anantnag and Awantipore. Sources said that the mosque had been damaged in the encounter and now the authorities had taken responsibility for its reconstruction.

A Lashkar-e-Taiba spokesperson said that two militants of his outfit managed to break the cordon and have reached their hideout safely.

In Gagrin, near Shopian in South kashmir, a militant and a CRPF jawan were killed when the former forced his entry into the camp of an SOG last night. Police said that the militant attacked the camp with grenades and opened fire. The fire was retaliated and the militant was killed, as also a CRPF jawan. Fourteen persons were killed in other militancy-related incidents across the State since Monday morning.

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