3 Army men dead in J&K gunfight

With militants taking the “advantageous position” in the seven-storey Entrepreneurs Development Institute (EDI) at Sempora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir for more than 28 hours, three Army personnel, including two Captains, of elite 9 PARA lost their lives while trying to storm the floor where militants are holed up. One militant was also killed. Three CRPF jawans and a civilian were killed on Saturday.

The Army has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to locate the position of the militants, thought to number three, in the government building. Several attempts to storm the building before sunset failed. “It is a 100-plus-room building. It will take time to sanitise it. The operation is on,” Inspector-General of Police (Kashmir) Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani told The Hindu.

Sources said the militants were well-versed with the area and the structure itself and carried enough ammunition to engage security forces in a long-drawn operation. The militants lobbed around two dozen grenades. “There are indications that the militants knew the place in advance,” Mr. Gillani said.

The building has a food court at the top, which caught fire in the exchange of fire, and concrete rooms, giving advantage to the militants “to move from one position to another.” An attempt to blow up a wall failed.

Captain Pawan Kumar led from the front

The first attempt by the Army to enter the Entrepreneurs Development Institute at Sempora in Pulwama district was made around sunrise on Sunday. Captain Pawan Kumar, 23, took a volley of bullets and died. The Captain, who also participated in the February 15 Pulwama encounter, had refused sick leave to take part in the operation and led from the front, an Army officer said. In the afternoon, Captain Tushar Mahajan and Lance Naik Om Prakash were killed.

Around noon, the Army entered the building after a gunfight. But the militants fired intermittently and lobbed grenades.