Two soldiers killed in militant attack
Attackers decamp with rifle, police suspects LeT hand
Srinagar: Two soldiers were killed as militants attacked an army patrol near HMT area on the outskirts of Srinagar district on Thursday. The militants also decamped with one rifle of the soldiers before fleeing from the area which has a heavy security presence.
A police officer said that militants carried out the attack at around 1315 hours at the army’s patrol at Aban Shah Chowk Sharifabad HMT area of Srinagar.
The officer said preliminary investigation revealed that militants were travelling in a Maruti car and took “undue advantage of the crowded place”.
Two army soldiers were injured in the attack and were evacuated to hospital for treatment. However both of them— Sepoy Ratan of 163 Battalion Territorial Army and Sepoy Deshmukh of 101 Battalion Territorial Army—succumbed to their injuries, the officer said.
“The area of occurrence being very much crowded, army personnel exercised maximum restraint to avoid any civilian causalities and collateral damage,” a police spokesman said in a statement.
Official sources said that militants also decamped with one rifle of the soldiers.
Inspector General of Police Kashmir Vijay Kumar later said that the Lashker-e-Toiba militants were involved in the attack.
“We have identified those who are behind this attack, and will be naturalized soon,” IGP added.
A defence ministry spokesman based in Srinagar, Col Rajesh Kalia in a statement said that militants fired indiscriminately at Quick Reaction Team of Indian Army.
“Being a crowded area, troops exercised restraint to avoid any civilian causalities & collateral damage,” he said, adding, “Two soldiers were critically injured and were evacuated to the nearest medical facility. However, they have succumbed to their injuries,” he added. (with inputs from GNS)
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