Two militants were killed as the operation to flush out holed up ultras inside a government building in Pampore on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway entered the third day today with security forces pounding the multi-storey structure with mortars and rockets.
The bodies of the two militants killed in the operation, which has now been going on for over 50 hours, have been recovered, officials said.
Earlier reports had suggested that three militants were holed up in the 70-room, seven-storey Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) hostel building in Pampore since early Monday.
Security forces have been trying to secure the government building since then.
While parts of the multi-storey building caught fire, militants kept changing position inside the building while using their ammunition sparingly, reports said.
Two security personnel and a policeman were injured when militants fired from inside the EDI building.
A joint operation was launched by the army, the Special Operations Group of the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
The main building of the institute had also been captured in February by militants who then launched a major attack on security forces. Six people — a civilian, three soldiers and two paramilitary troopers -- were killed in that attack, before the three militants inside were shot dead.
(With agency inputs)
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