Pampore encounter ends, two terrorists eliminated

Security officials took time to clear the JKEDI building to avoid collateral damage in the three-day gun battle

A three-day battle between security forces and terrorists holed up in a government building at Pampore, near Srinagar, ended on October 12 with the death of two militants, the army announced.

General Officer Commanding Ashok Narula said the military operation, which began on an October 10 morning, was carried out in a manner that there would be no collateral damage.

"Two terrorists have been eliminated and two weapons recovered. We will give details of other articles recovered later," Narula told the media.

"We did not want any collateral damage. So it took us time. There are 60 rooms in the building. That is the reason (we) took time to clear every room," he said.

The seven-storey Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) hostel, where the terrorists sneaked in on Monday, is located on the banks of the river Jhelum.

The main building of the institute was attacked in February when six persons- a civilian, three soldiers and two paramilitary troopers- were killed before three militants were shot dead.