Pulwama attack: 8 security personnel killed as militants strike police complex, J-K Police chief rules out ‘security lapse’

In the exchange of fire which continued for long, three terrorists have been killed, and eight security personnel lost their lives (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)

At least eight security personnel were killed when militants attacked a district police complex in south Kashmir’s Pulwama on Saturday. Addressing media here, Jammu and Kashmir Police chief S P Vaid ruled out security lapse, saying, “You cannot prevent (an attack) if somebody is ready to die.” Vaid said, though militants took shelter in the family quarters of the complex, security forces were successful in eliminating the terrorists. “The security forces together evacuated everybody from those blocks and in the process, we have suffered some casualties, but the terrorists have been eliminated,” he said

The terrorists struck the police complex in the worst-hit Pulwama district at the crack of dawn. In the exchange of fire, which continued for long, at least eight security personnel and three militants were killed. Among the security personnel killed, four were from the CRPF, one was a constable of Jammu and Kashmir Police and three were Special Police Officers working with the state police.

Responding to whether the security forces were ready to tackle such challenges in the future, the DGP said, “We are alert and we will take care of that.” The police chief was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a wreath-laying ceremony for two CRPF jawans -– constable Jaswant Singh, a resident of Haryana, and head constable Dhanawade Ravindra Baban, a resident of Maharashtra.

– PTI inputs