Srinagar: Two soldiers were killed after militants fired at the army’s Road opening Party (RoP) at HMT on Srinagar outskirts on Thursday, police said.
Defence spokesman in Srinagar, Colonel Rajesh Kalia said militants fired indiscriminately at the army’s Quick Reaction Team (QRT) in general area of Aban Shah Chowk, HMT, Srinagar this afternoon.
“Being a crowded area, troops exercised restraint to avoid any civilian casualties and collateral damage,” Colonel Kalia said.
He said that two soldiers were critically injured and were evacuated to the nearest medical facility. “However, they succumbed to injuries. Area has been cordoned and search operation launched,” he said.
Soon after the attack, top police and army officials rushed to the spot to assess the situation, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar said that three militants carried out the attack on army men at HMT on Srinagar-Baramulla killing two army men.
“Initial reports said that three militants were travelling in a Maruti car and two of them were carrying weapons, who fired indiscriminately at the army men leaving two of them seriously wounded. Reportedly, both injured soldiers have succumbed,” he said. The IGP Kashmir said that security forces are chasing the Maruti car and it seems that Jaish-e-Muhammad outfit has carried out the attack. “There seems to be the involvement of one or two foreign militants. We will ascertain the outfit that carried out the attack,” he said.
A police spokesman in a statement issued here said that Srinagar police received information about an incident at Sharifabad HMT area of Srinagar where militants had fired upon Army Quick Reaction Team (QRT).
“Preliminary investigation revealed that militants travelling in a Maruti car taking undue advantage of crowded place fired indiscriminately at army party resulting in injuries to two army jawans. The injured jawans were evacuated to hospital for treatment; however both of them succumbed to their injuries. They have been identified as Sepoy Ratan of 163 Battalion Territorial Army and Sepoy Deshmukh of 101 Battalion Territorial Army,” the police spokesman said.
“The area of occurrence being very much crowded, army personnel exercised maximum restraint to avoid any civilian causalities and collateral damage,” the police spokesman said, adding, that, “We pay our rich tributes to the martyrs for their supreme sacrifice in the line of duty and stand by their families at this crucial juncture.”
The spokesman further said that police has registered a case in this regard under relevant sections of law. “Investigation is in progress and officers continue to work to establish the full circumstances of this terror crime,” the statement said
