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Three killed as militants target J&K state secretariat again

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Three government employees were killed and nine others wounded when militants rained rifle grenades on the heavily guarded Jammu and Kashmir civil secretariat building in Srinagar this afternoon.

No militant group has yet taken responsibility for the attack.

A senior police officer told this correspondent that militants fired between eight to ten grenades which fell around the secretariat building killing one official of the Education Department identified as Abdul Salam Fafoo on the spot.

The injured were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where two of them died while undergoing treatment.

"I heard only explosions and we took cover in the corridor," said one senior officer. A police officer posted inside the building said he saw people getting hit by shrapnel and falling. "I heard only cries for help. However, we could not move out as more bombs were landing in the lawn."

This was the second attack on the state secretariat in less then one month. One security guard was killed and six others were wounded in the first attack on September 29.

Police said the militants first hurled a grenade on the Hari Singh High Street resulting in injuries to four civilians. This was followed by an attack on the nearby secretariat building.

The militants, police believe, fired the grenades from Shaheed Gunj area.

The secretariat houses the offices of Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, his ministers and all top officials.

An eye witness told this correspondent that the grenades landed in the secretariat one after the other. One fell near the main entrance, while others in the lawn and the main building.

The explosions triggered panic with employees running for cover. Senior police and civil officials rushed to the spot immediately and the entire premises was cordoned off. A combing operation was also undertaken in the neighbouring areas.

ALSO SEE:
Militants are on the run, says army

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