Nine Central Reserve Police Force jawans, including a company commander, and one militant were killed and nine others injured in an encounter after two militants stormed a CRPF camp in the Rajbagh locality in Srinagar on Wednesday night,
official sources said on Thursday.
The dead Assistant Commandant was identified as Sanjeev Singh.
"We have eliminated the fidayeen holed up inside the camp," S S Rawat, Inspector General of CRPF in Kashmir.
He said nine CRPF soldiers were killed in the heavy firing by the fidayeen, while eight others who were wounded are undergoing treatment in various hospitals.
Police sources said the other fidayeen may have managed to escape last night under the cover of darkness.
CRPF soldiers stormed the camp this morning around 8 am firing heavily from automatic weapons. In the fierce gunbattle the lone fidayeen was killed.
Bodies of nine CRPF soldiers were recovered this morning. "We are still searching the camp building," a senior police officer said.
A pitched gunbattle had continued throughout Thursday morning between the paramilitary troopers and the holed up fidayeen.
The residents of the posh Rajbagh locality in city uptown spent a sleepless night as fierce firing exchanges and explosions rocked the night.
The adjacent prestigious Christian missionary Presentation Convent High School has been closed and a virtual blanket of security was thrown around the area, which is located across river Jhelum barely two kms from city centre.
In the early hours today, the securitymen tried to storm the building. However, the militants opened fire killing a CRPF company commander and four jawans, sources said.
Two militants, believed to be affiliated to the Al-Madina and Al-Mansoorian outfits stormed the camp located near an educational institute, at around 2050 hours last night injuring six CRPF jawans, they said.
This is the second suicide attack on CRPF within a week. The last being carried out on July 27th-28th when militants stormed their camp, within Dal lake, and killed five CRPF personnel before the two militants were killed.