Pampore encounter day 3: Second terrorist shot down, army ends operations after 52 hours

At least two terrorists have been reportedly killed before the encounter between Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists and the Indian Army at Pampore near Srinagar ended on Wednesday, October 12, after three days.

One of the terrorists holed up in the Entrepreneurship Development Institute hostel building in Pampore was killed on Tuesday and another on Wednesday during the gun battle that began around 5 am (IST) on Monday, October 11. Bodies of the two terrorists killed in the operation, which lasted for over 50 hours, have been recovered.

The security forces used various techniques rockets, light machine guns and scores of grenades to pinpoint location of the militants inside the seven-storey complex. "The Army used heavy weapons in the operation against them but till now only one terrorist has been killed," a senior police officer supervising the operation had stated earlier. 

Counter-terrorism officials revealed that the militants had planned a suicide attack in Srinagar, but when they failed to breach the city's security they decided to hide out in the Pampore institute. "A squad of suicide attackers was trying to target Srinagar for the past few days. The security forces were looking for them," one of the officials said on Tuesday.

The mutual attacks began with the terrorists who made the first shot when an institute staffer spotted them. There were no attacks from the terrorists' side since Tuesday. However, the security personnel did not rush into the building to avoid causalities.

"We don't want any causalities this time. In the February encounter, militants inflicted heavy causalities on the security forces when they tried to enter the building. This time we will not take any such risk," an officer had said in reference to the last operation against militants, who had holed up inside the EDI in February. During those attacks, Indian army suffered many casualties as the militants took advantage of their positions.