Despite announcing the ceasefire for three days, 2 heavily armed Lashkar-e-Taiba militants made an unsuccessful attempt to intrude into a CRPF camp at Hotel Boulevard near the banks of the Dal Lake on Thursday evening.

The CRPF personnel swung into action and forced the militants to take refuge in the parking area near to the security forces’ camp. The CRPF covered the area but avoided night assault to minimize causalities. Army personnel killed two militants on early Friday after a 12-hour encounter that also left three CRPF jawans injured.

Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda said that the militants attacked on Thursday evening and the gun battle ended on Friday morning when the army personnel killed two militants.

Later, the slain militants were identified as Pakistani nationals named as Abu Hashim and Abu Zahid from the documents recovered from their custody. DGP said later that the security forces recovered two ak-56 rifles, eight magazines, four hand grenades, 52 rounds and one mobile phone from the slain militants.

The heavy noise of firing exchanges resulted panic and tension among thousand of people who were busy in Eid shopping. A senior army official said on Friday morning that the area has been cleared for traffic and civilian movement.

Earlier on Monday, a militant group active in Jammu and Kashmir, United Jihad Council (UJC), had announced a unilateral ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir for three days because of the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. The UJC militants have reportedly announced that the ceasefire would come into effect from October 12 for the next three day UJC works as an umbrella group of major militant organisations based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

UJC spokesman Syed Sadaqat Hussain had asked all the militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir to observe the ceasefire religiously. The UJC had asked them to follow the ceasefire guidelines completely for the period.

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