Srinagar: In a fierce gunbattle that went on for nearly 24 hours, paramilitary forces in Srinagar managed to gun down three terrorists holed up a hotel in the Lal Chowk area.
According to DIG Srinagar Farooq Ahmed, one CRPF jawan and one J&K Police constable have been injured in the attack.
Three policemen died and eight policemen and four civilians were injured on Wednesday during the exchange of fire between security forces and the terrorists.
The encounter was suspended for the night and resumed on Thursday morning.
The area around the Akhara building - being used by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men as a barrack - has been cordoned off.
On Wednesday, terror outfit Al-Mansoorian had called up media houses claiming responsibility for the attack.
Police sources say the target of the militants was Akhara building, which houses the CRPF headquarters, but when they failed to enter the heavily fortified office, they laid siege on Standard hotel in Budshah Chowk, which is adjacent to Lal Chowk.
The police evacuated civilians from the area and asked people to shut shop earlier in the day.
More than 200 people were moved to safety before the gun battle resumed. However, there are still many people who are trapped inside their shops and homes in the heavily congested area.
Bullet-proof vehicles were used to take the civillians to safety.
The police managed to storm the hotel, but could not pinpoint the location of the terrorists inside.
The encounter began when terrorists hurled grenades and fired from automatic weapons at CRPF guards outside the Akhara building, triggering retaliatory attacks.
Soon after, a man called up a local news agency saying he belonged to the Al Mansoorian terror outfit and claimed responsibility for the attack.
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