Militants kill three policemen in Srinagar; Hizb-ul-Mujahideen takes blame

SRINAGAR: Ahead of the J&K assembly session on May 25, militants killed three policemen in two separate attacks in Srinagar on Monday, and fled with the service weapon of one of the cops.

The attacks seemed coordinated and took place within an hour at Zadibal and Tengpora areas of Srinagar, around 13 km separating them. Militant organisation Hizb-ul-Mujahideen took responsibility of the attacks. The operational spokesperson of HM, as per local news agency CNS, claimed that “a special squad of the militant outfit carried out the twin attacks and plans to carry out further attacks in near future”.

Monday’s developments sent shock across the government and security establishment, who had considered Srinagar as ‘unfavourable and inaccessible’ for militants for more than two years now. The last such attack took place in Srinagar in 2013 when militants killed two policemen in the city centre.

Former chief minister and opposition leader Omar Abdullah, in a string of tweets, stated that the latest attacks were a ‘worrying development’. “The attacks on policemen in Srinagar is a worrying development. Condolences to the families of those who’ve died (sic),” Omar tweeted. “The government needs to move quickly to reassure residents of Srinagar and visitors.”

The attackers, police sources claim, carried pistols and rode motorcycles, but it was not clear whether the same group was involved in both the incidents.