J&K cops foil fidayeen attack

SRINAGAR: Scores of people were evacuated by security forces after two fidayeens (suicide attackers) took shelter in a local hotel after a failed attack on a CRFP bunker in Sopore.

Police have cordoned off Hotel New Light and are trying hard to flush out the holed-up militants.

Mir Imitiyaz Hussain, additional superintendent of police (ASP), Sopore, said two militants surfaced at the Main Chowk Sopore in the afternoon and tried to attack the CRPF bunker and a police party nearby. “Our men immediately retaliated, forcing the militants to beat a hasty retreat. But the ultras took shelter in a nearby hotel. We did not storm the hotel because there were a lot of people in and around it,” he said.

Dr B Srinivas, deputy inspector general of police, north Kashmir range, said the security forces had launched an operation and firing was on between the two sides.

“We have engaged the militants in a gunbattle. The militants are still holed up in the hotel,” the deputy inspector general of police said.