Pulwama suicide attack: 5 jawans killed after terrorists launch pre-dawn assault on CRPF camp in Jammu and Kashmir; 3 militants slain

Srinagar: Heavily armed terrorists launched a pre-dawn attack on a CRPF camp in Pulwama district of South Kashmir, killing five personnel of the force and injuring three others, a security forces spokesperson said. [caption id=“attachment_4282457” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Security forces near the encounter site. Image courtesy: Suhail Bhat[/caption] CRPF spokesperson Rajesh Yadav said the bodies of two terrorists have also been recovered while one more is believed to have been killed. “Five CRPF jawans have been martyred and others are injured. The bodies of two terrorists have also been recovered. We believe another terrorist has also been killed,” Yadav told PTI. He said intermittent firing was still on and one terrorist is believed to be holed up in building block. A CRPF official said the “heavily armed militants stormed the camp at about 2 am. They were armed with under-barrel grenade launchers and automatic weapons. They were challenged by camp sentries.” Yadav told PTI the terrorists fired indiscriminately and injured three CRPF personnel. One of the injured personnel was identified as Saifuddin, a resident of Nowgam, officials said. Director General of Police S P Vaid said security forces had inputs about an impending militant strike in the Valley for the past three days. Terming the attack as “unfortunate”, Vaid said as long as Pakistan keeps sending militants, security forces and people of Kashmir will continue to go through this. “There was an input from the last two-three days.They (militants) were trying. They probably could not get a place and time earlier. So, they struck last night,” Vaid told reporters. The CRPF camp also serves as training centre for troops inducted for counter-militancy operations in Kashmir. A Jammu and Kashmir Police team is also co-located with CRPF in this camp.