The attack took place at 4.00 am and exchange of firing was going on between the militants and security forces, they said. ANI Photo
In a pre-dawn attack, fidayeen (suicide) militants attacked a Border Security Force (BSF) camp near the Srinagar International Airport leading to a fierce gunfight in which three attackers and a paramilitary trooper have been killed and three others injured so far.
Sources said three to four heavily-armed fidayeen, believed to be foreign mercenaries, stormed 182 BSF headquarters at Humhama, located outside the main gate of the airport at around 4.15 am.
The militants positioned themselves inside barracks of the BSF and there was a heavy exchange of gunfire between the two sides. Residents of the area said that they heard dozens of loud explosions which rattled entire Humaham and its adjoining neighbourhoods.
After forcing their way into the area, the militants resorted to indiscriminate firing and threw grenades in which three BSF troopers were injured, police said. In the retaliatory action, three militants have been killed so far. "One more militant is believed to be currently holed up inside a building, and an operation is underway," a police official said.
"Helicopters are hovering over the area and intermittent firing exchanges are going on. The area has been cordoned off," he said, adding Special Forces have been called in.
Sources said the camp was targeted to inflict high casualties on security forces as it is situated in a high-security area and close to the airport. All morning flights to and from Srinagar airport were cancelled in view of them, officials said. However, flights resumed operating in the afternoon after the security clearance from the police.
"Normal flight operations have resumed and passengers were boarding flights," said Director, Airport Authority of India, Srinagar, Sharad Kumar.
Sources said that security agencies were ascertaining as to how the armed fidayeen breached multiple layer security to sneak into the camp close to Srinagar Airport, which is a highly fortified zone. IGP Kashmir Muneer Khan said there is no information yet about these fidayeen getting any help from locals. "That possibility is being investigated," he told reporters.
Adjacent to the camp is the old Srinagar airfield which is been run by the Indian Air Force.
The area also houses training centres of the BSF and CRPF. Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed outfit claimed the responsibility for the attack, which comes a little over a month after an identical incident on police lines in south Kashmir's Pulwama district on August 26 in which eight security personnel were killed.