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Suicide attack on army camp in J&K foiled

Last updated on: September 04, 2003 12:34 IST

The Indian Army on Thursday repulsed an attack on their camp by killing two Lashkar-e-Tayiba militants, who also struck at a residential area and shot dead a woman and injured three others on the outskirts of Poonch town of Jammu and Kashmir.

The militants in army fatigues first fired at a group of civilians, who raised an alarm on spotting them, killing a woman and injuring two children and a girl at around 0500 hours IST close to the army camp near Kansar, an army spokesman said.

They then rushed towards the army camp and tried to barge into it by lobbing grenades at the guards at the gate.

The alert guards retaliated killing both the militants, he said.

The spokesman said the militants, in their 20s, were suspected to be Pakistani nationals. Two AK rifles, 12 magazines, 14 grenades and 250 rounds were recovered from them.

The attack comes three days after Jaish-e-Mohammad militants made an abortive bid to storm the BSF headquarters in Srinagar.

The woman shot dead by the militants has been identified as 28-year-old Zahid Parveen. The injured were Mohammad Irfan (two), Farzana Kosar (five) and Nazir Kosar (18).

The injured have been admitted to a hospital in Poonch town. Two AK 47 rifles and ammunition were recovered from the spot.

A search operation has been launched in the area.

Meanwhile, the gun battle between security forces and seven Lashkar militants holed up in a bushy area of Kathua district entered the third day on Thursday.

In the longest gun battle this year, one soldier was killed and four others injured on Wednesday in the operation to flush out the LeT militants.

The militants are holed in Ghati area of Kathua. A Village Defence Committee member and two ultras were also wounded.

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