In an audacious attack on Army on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, militants have killed
eight soldiers and left 14 others wounded at Hyderpora, on the
Jammu-Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Highway, on Monday.
Highly placed authoritative sources told The Hindu that eight soldiers
died and eleven others sustained injuries when a group of heavily
armed militants opened fire and lobbed grenades on a military convoy
on way from Panta Chowk to Pattan at 1630 hours. Two of the targeted
vehicles were extensively damaged. Later, the fleeing militants left a
Central Reserve Police Force [CRPF] Sub Inspector injured in another
attack near Barzulla.
The militants, sources said, attacked the convoy from an alley taking
off towards a mosque near Classic Hospital. They are believed to have
escaped towards Police Station Saddar through an interior locality on
a motorcycle, followed by a Santro car. Even at Barzulla, close to
Police Station Saddar, they attacked and left injured a CRPF
personnel. Thereafter, they abandoned their wheeler, which was later
seized by Police, and escaped in the car. Police sources said that the
motorcycle had been snatched away from two youths, Saquib and Zaid
Farooq, in Baghaat area. Both had reported to the Police.
While as none of the Jammu and Kashmir Police officials agreed to
speak on record, responsible official sources confirmed the death of
eight soldiers. They said that six of the critically injured were
battling for life at Army's Base Hospital.
Defence spokesman at headquarters 15 Corps, Naresh Vig, confirmed five
fatal casualties and said that about 10 others had sustained injuries.
He said that six of the injured were critical and three 'extremely
critical'.
Monday's attack on the Army occurred amid the high security alert as
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi,
are reaching here on a two-day visit on June 25. On Saturday last,
militants had gunned down two J&K Police personnel in uptown Hari
Singh High Street. With the addition of another attack, as many as ten
Army and Police personnel here died in the last three days.
On March 13 this year, five CRPF men and three fidayeen of
Lashkar-e-Toiba had died in a fierce gunbattle at Bemina, not far away
from Hyderpora, on the same highway.
Hizb claims responsibility
Local news agencies said that the Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman
Baleeguddin called them by telephone to claim that the cadres of his
outfit had attacked the Army and the CRPF in Srinagar.
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