Three civilians, two cops injured in militant attack

Five people, including three civilians and two policemen, were injured when militants opened fire on a police check post near a dental college in Kaka Sarai area of Srinagar's old city on Friday.

A police official said the militants opened fire on the police check post before managing to escape from the spot. “Three civilians and two policemen were injured in the attack. They were immediately taken to nearby SMHS hospital,” he said.

Soon after the attack security forces cordoned off the area to nab the assailants, reports said.

The attack comes just a day after veteran journalist and editor of local English daily Rising Kashmir was shot dead along with his two body guards by unidentified gunmen at Press Enclave here.

According to a security estimate, more than a dozen youth from Srinagar city have joined the militancy over the past year. And even for “the lack of easy access to militant networks in the Valley”, more would be willing to join.

Though Srinagar has witnessed several major attacks since last year, including the one outside the highly guarded Srinagar airport last year in October, they have been few carried out by militants from other places.

A senior police officer involved in counter-insurgency operations said if Srinagar plunge back into militancy, it will drastically alter the security situation in the state.

“The situation has now come to a point where youths in Srinagar like their counterparts in south Kashmir are willing to join militancy. This is a worrying trend,” he said.

“The religious contestation triggered by Zakir Musa plays out in the lanes of old city and during the funeral of Easa Fazili, an engineering college student, who joined militancy last year and was killed in March this year, slogans in favour of both ISIS and Musa were simultaneously chanted,” the officer added.