Terror comes right up to Mufti’s door

The little known Al Mansurian, Al Nasreen and Farzandan-e-Milat called up local news agencies here and are said to have told the police that the attack was aimed at the CM’s residence. And that the two were ‘‘tasked’’ to carry out the attack.

The militants were forced into hiding in adjacent four-storey plush shopping complex. By late this evening, Mufti had returned to the city and reaffirmed his commitment to his healing touch policy. Brushing aside police objections, he decided to enter his house and stay there for the night even as the encounter is on.

So far, two BSF personnel have been killed and 12 injured, including three photojournalists. The attack comes as a reminder that the Mufti government which was elected on a pro-Kashmir ‘‘healing touch’’ plan is now under fire from militants. Incidentally, days ago, Mufti had admitted to The Indian Express that the pace of the peace process was disappointing. That process, announced with much fanfare, has long been stalled leading to the marginalisation of the moderates and the split of the Hurriyat.

The encounter with the attackers began as early as 10.15 and was on during the evening—the nearby Maulana Azad Road neighbourhood being lit up by flash-lights. Two BSF men and a civilian were killed. Among the inuured are seven BSF personnel including an assistant commandant, an SP and DSP of police, two cops; Associated Press photographer Rafiq Maqbool, Syed Muzzaffar of Srinagar Times and Danish Ismail of Greater Kashmir were injured.

Initially, the J&K Police and the BSF who launched the operation tried to go slow ensuring that the dozen-odd civilians trapped in the house were taken away. ‘‘The militants’ continous firing at the BSF and police parties is making making the rescue operation very difficult,’’ said Mohammad Amin Shah, DIG, Kashmir monitoring the operation.

J-K DGP Gopal Sharma, however, said the attack was not aimed at CM. ‘‘It was that the militants atacked the BSF party and later took refuge in the building,’’ he said.

When contacted, Mehbooba said: ‘‘Dad had left the house at 6.30 in the morning for Aligarh and reports on TV that he was taken out in a bullet-proof vehicle by police are obnoxious.’’ Sounding relaxed, she said: ‘‘Our family is putting up with very much here.’’