Fidayeen attack on CRPF camp foiled

Militants on Thursday tried to storm a heavily guarded complex which houses a nuclear research laboratory of the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre BARC and a Central Reserve Police Force battalion headquarter on the outskirts of the city.

Militants on Thursday tried to storm a heavily guarded complex which houses a nuclear research laboratory of the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre BARC and a Central Reserve Police Force battalion headquarter on the outskirts of the city. Both fidayeens were shot dead before they could go anywhere near the BARC facility which stores radioactive material.

The fidayeen attack8212;the first this year in Srinagar8212;took place in the morning at Zakura when two militants tossed grenades and sprayed bullets at the sentry post of the 42 Battalion headquarters of CRPF.

Inspector General of Police S M Sahai said at around 10 am militants attacked the CRPF camp at Zakura, when two militants tried to sneak into the camp from the back. 8220;The alert CRPF men returned fire and in the ensuing encounter two militants were killed. Four CRPF men were also injured in the gun battle,8221; Sahai said.

Sources, however, said both the attackers managed to infiltrate the camp but were caught between the two CRPF bunkers in the premises. 8220;One of the two militants was killed as soon as he had sneaked inside the camp while the second was killed after an hour-long battle,8221; said a CRPF officer.

Meanwhile, Sahai denied that the attack was aimed at the BARC. 8220;If the militants had planned to attack the research laboratory, they would have attacked the camp from some other spot. The attack on the sentry post showed that the militants planned to storm the CRPF camp,8221; Sahai said.

The BARC laboratory, with a skeletal staff, has been carrying out research on the premises for the last few years. Most of the employees of the research laboratory had already been sent to Mumbai and Udaipur.

Meanwhile, Laskher-e-Toiba claimed responsibility for the attack. They also claimed that many CRPF men were killed in the encounter. The gunfight at Zakura also led to tension on the Srinagar-Leh Highway, which is on the route of pilgrims making their way to the Amarnath shrine from Baltal. Traffic was closed for around two hours on the highway.