SRINAGAR: Three Jaish-e-Mohammad militants and an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) of BSF were killed and three border guards injured after security forces repulsed attack by heavily armed fidayeen on a BSF camp near heavily guarded Srinagar airport on Tuesday.
At around 4 am, three heavily armed militants in army fatigues made a bid to storm the 182 bn BSF camp at Gogoland, adjacent to heavily guarded Srinagar airport by lobbing grenades and firing from AK-47 rifles towards the security men deployed in the camp.
The old airfield, being manned by the Indian Air Force, is also located in the area. The training centres of BSF and CRPF are also located in the area.
One of the militant was killed near the gate by the BSF men during the initial gunfight while two other militants manage to enter the camp after cutting fence on the rear side of the camp.
“The attack was very effectively repulsed. One of the militant was killed during the initial gunfight. Two others managed to sneak into the camp,” Inspector General of Police Kashmir Muneer Khan told reporters while addressing a joint press conference with IG CRPF Ravideep Singh Sahi and IG BSF Kashmir Sonali Mishra.
He said the Quick Response Teams (QRTs) of BSF swung into action and launched operation to flush out the militants hiding in two buildings inside the camp. “After sometime, they were joined by police, CRPF and army in flushing out the militants”.
The IGP said one militant was killed in administrative block while another, who had taken refuge in another building, was forced to come out from the building after tear gas shells were lobbed inside.
The militant was killed in the gunfight outside the building, he said.
An ASI of BSF B K Yadav was killed and three other border guards injured in the gunfight
After all the three militants were killed, the security personnel conducted clearance operation, which was completed by noon.
The air operations from the Srinagar airport remained suspended for nearly three hours and the flights resumed from 10 am onwards.
The educational institutions in the area were closed for the day by authorities as a precautionary measure.
Describing the operation as quality example of coordination between security forces, IGP said there was no collateral damage during the operation.
He said the operation could have been completed quickly by using aerial weapons but it was avoided because of presence of local population.
Asked which group was responsible for the attack, Khan said, “Jaish-e-Mohammad was responsible for the attack. As per news reports, JeM has also taken responsibility of the attack”.
He said the slain militants were part of the larger Jaish group, which had infiltrated in July-August this year.
“The three militants of the same group were killed in an attack on District Police Lines in Pulwama on August 26 this year,” he said adding, “About six to seven militants of the group are on run and troops have launched a manhunt to track down them”.
Asked whether the militant attack was a setback for security forces, IGP said, “Not at all. The attack was effectively repulsed and all the attackers were killed within few hours after the militants stormed the BSF camp”.
“Every security forces’ camp is a highly guarded. Such attack will keep on happening as long as militancy is there and Pakistan is our neighbour,” he said.
In response to a question whether militants had planned to attack Airport, he said, “I don’t think so. The target was the BSF camp and that is why they sneaked into the camp.”
Asked whether the JeM has formed its Over Ground Workers (OGW) base in Valley, IGP said, “The OGW network of militant group has been identified. The OGWs are guiding the JeM group and we have launched the operation to unearth the group”.
The security officials have said after the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen suffered heavy casualties in security forces operations this year, the militants of the two outfits have gone into hiding in south Kashmir forests while fidayeen of Jaish-e-Mohammad, who have infiltrated this year, have taken the front stage.