Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Dec 17: In one of the audacious attacks on an Army convoy today at Kadalbal in Pampore area of South Kashmir on National Highway, three Army personnel were killed and two others injured while militants managed to flee.
Sources said that Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants attacked an Army convoy at Kadalbal, Pampore on National Highway in district Pulwama at around 3 p.m.
They said that 5 militants came in a Sumo car and parked it near the bridge, some 200 meters from the highway in Kadalbal, Pampore. Sources identified the two militants who fired at the bus as Abu Ali and Abu Ismail, both Pakistanis. “They were accompanied by a local militant Ayub Lone while two more Arif and Riyaz were waiting in the Sumo. Militants after carrying out the attack crossed the bridge and boarded the Sumo to flee from the spot”, they added.
The Army convoy was coming from Jammu and was on way to Srinagar when it came under attack at Pampore. Five Army men were injured in the attack and three of them – K Suratnand, S Panday of 51 Rashtriya Rifles and Ratesh C of 36 RR – were declared as brought dead at 92-Base Hospital of Army at Badami Bagh Cantonment.
The two others, one identified as Mohammad Hussain of 17 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JKLI) and another of 13 RR suffered minor injuries in the attack and they are undergoing treatment at 92-Base hospital.
Army, Police and CRPF immediately reached the spot and massive searches were launched against the militants responsible for the attack. Several areas around Kadalbal were searched by the security forces but the militants had managed to flee. Security forces have, however, launched massive manhunt against these militants.
Security forces also carried out checking of the vehicles on Pulwama road, Lasjin road and on the National Highway. However, no one was arrested.
Sources said that security agencies had inputs that militants were planning attack on security forces on the Srinagar-Anantnag stretch of the highway. Security forces were already alert but militants managed to carry out the attack.
The traffic on the highway came to halt for about one hour after the attack and later there was massive traffic jams that took several hours for clearance.
Pampore has been the site of several attacks this year. In October, a gun-battle with two LeT militants who barged into Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) building ended after nearly 60 hours. The same seven-story building was also targeted in a major attack in February during which 5 soldiers and a civilian were killed then.
Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti condemned the killing of three Army personnel in a militant attack in Pampore town. She said violence has never helped in the resolution of issues but only compounded the human miseries. She expressed her sympathies with the families of slain soldiers.
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