Hizbul Militants Kill 5 Jawans In Kashmir

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Five jawans were killed today when two militants stormed a CRPF camp near a school in Bemina area in the heart of the city in the first suicide attack in three years in which the terrorists were suspected to be from Pakistan. However, a pro-Pakistan militant group Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility and threatened to repeat the attacks in future.

The two 'fidayeens' (suicide militants), who entered the Police Public School ground in the guise of playing cricket, were eliminated during a 30-minute gunbattle following the terror attack in which 18 people, 15 jawans and three civilians, were also injured. Five jawans and the three civilians were out of danger, officials said.

"Prima facie the terrorists don't appear to be local but from across the border and first impressions are that they are possibly from Pakistan," Union home secretary R K Singh said in New Delhi.

Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the suicide attack is an indicator that the government has to remain "very alert" in Kashmir Valley.

"We are analyzing how the attack took place," he said, adding, it is difficult to predict when terror will strike.

"But it (the attack) has given an indication that we have to remain very alert in Kashmir," Shinde said on the sidelines of an event here.

The home minister said the attack is a "sad incident" and the agencies concerned will take proper action.

In Srinagar, a spokesman from the Hizbul Mujahideen group called a local news agency to claim responsibility for the attack that began at 10.45am and threatened more such attacks in the future. "It was a guerrilla attack carried out by a special squad formed for the purpose," Hizb spokesman Baleeguddin said in a telephonic call to the news agency.

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