In season of peace talks, militants send reminders

‘‘Three BSF men were killed while two were injured in the attack. A local milkman, Ghulam Mohammad Khan, was caught in the crossfire and got killed,’’ he said.

The identity of the militants has not yet been established but the BSF suspects Jaish-e-Mohammad, which has a substantial presence in the area, to be behind the incident. The security forces cordoned off the entire area and launched a search to nab other members of this militant group, if any.

This camp, situated at the base of a hillock, is divided by a road that connects Bandipore with dozens of villages in the Harmukh range, which is highly infested with foreign militants. It houses the headquarters of the BSF’s deputy inspector general.

In the earlier suicide attack here in July 1999 — soon after the Kargil war — a the DIG, a commandant and two other BSF men had died. The last such suicide attack where a militant had blown himself up had taken place at the assembly complex here on October 1, 2001.

It was carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The strike that had followed the September 11 attacks had attracted international condemnation. In fact, such attacks were stopped after the December 13 Parliament attack that led to a massive troop build-up on the borders and even threatened a war between the two neighbours.

A few kilometres up in the Harmukh jungles, militants ambushed a patrol of 14 Rashtriya Rifles — at Sumlar village — killing Major Lalsin Verghees and rifleman Uday Singh on the spot. The militants vanished into the neighbouring jungles after the attack.

Then around noon, unidentified persons lobbed a grenade inside the compound of a court in Pattan, 27 km from here. The compound was packed with people. A woman, Nasreena Begum, of a neighbouring village, Seer, was killed while two died of their injuries in hospital. Around 35 villagers, including several children and women, were injured in the blast.