Author: IANS
Publication: The Times of India
Date: October 18, 2010
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kashmir-mosque-siege-on-as-militant-refuses-to-give-up/articleshow/6770425.cms#ixzz12m5HlkMo
The standoff between an injured guerrilla
hiding in a mosque in Kashmir's Bandipora district and the security forces
continued Monday evening as a village cleric and elders failed to persuade
the militant to surrender.
"The injured militant lobbed a grenade
at the surrounding security men who did not retaliate in deference to the
mosque inside which the militant is hiding," a senior police officer
said here.
The injured militant took shelter in the mosque
in Dabban village after a gun battle early Monday morning when a group of
militants moving around in the forest area near Dabban village was surrounded
by personnel of the counter-insurgency force, the Rahstriya Rifles and state
police.
The militants were challenged to surrender
but instead opened fire on the security forces.
"One terrorist was killed and another
injured in a gunfight with the security forces in forest foothill village
of Dabban in Bandipora district early today (Monday). The injured terrorist
entered the mosque in the village," Army's 15 Corps spokesman Lt. Col.
J.S. Brar said.
"The local imam and village elders had
tried earlier to persuade the holed up guerrilla to surrender, but failed,"
Brar added.
Senior police and army officers have rushed
to the spot to ensure that the situation is defused without causing any damage
to the mosque.
Security forces, meanwhile, tightened the
cordon around the mosque and put up flashlights to ensure the guerrilla does
not escape in the cover of darkness.
