SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — A three-day gunfight between terrorists and armed forces ended Wednesday, the army killed two militants holed up in a multi-story government building on the outskirts of Srinagar, authorities said.
One of the longest gunfights in recent memory of the Kashmir separatist war, three members of the army were injured on Oct. 10 after militants snuck entry into an empty hostel building of the Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute in the saffron-manufacturing town of Pampore.
The result was a 60-hour standoff, which drew a heavy exchange of gunfire between militants and security forces, and leaving the seven-floor hostel complex completely destroyed. The building was designed to house 200 and was opened with state of the art facilities less than two years ago, JKEDI officials said.
General Officer Commanding Ashok Narula said the operation was conducted to avoid collateral damage.
“We had to proceed very cautiously since the building where the militants were holed up had 60 rooms. Two terrorists have been eliminated without any casualty to the security forces and two weapons recovered,” Narula said.
For the duration of the battle, armed forces aimed rockets, grenades and automatic gunfire at the building that had an exterior glass facade. Portions of the building caught fire, however, that didn’t stop militants from changing positions inside the building and using their ammunition sparingly.
The entire JKEDI complex was illuminated with floodlights during the two nights of operation to ensure the guerrillas did not escape.
A caretaker, who stays in the complex 24 hours, said he saw smoke coming out of the top floor and called the fire brigade and police on Monday morning.
“We don’t know exactly what happened and how the militants sneaked in and occupied the building. But fortunately there were no employees and no inmates,” he said.
