M A I N   N E W S

4 schoolchildren killed
Pak shell hits school building
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, May 3 — Four schoolchildren were among five persons killed when a school was hit in Pakistani shelling in Uri sector along the Line of Control at 1.30 today.

The students died on the spot when a rocket pierced the roof of a government middle school building at Chotali and exploded in their class, an official spokesman said.

Pakistani troops targeted civilian areas and security forces installations.

A villager was also killed in the shelling. Shelling from across the border was going on when reports last came in.

Official sources said Indian troops retaliated. But casualties suffered on the Pakistani side was not immediately known.

Border Security Force (BSF) Assistant Commandant Shamsher Singh and four Hizbul militants were among eight killed while forces recovered RDX, grenades and rockets in the Kashmir valley during the past 24 hours.

An official spokesperson said militants hiding in a house at Gundpora in Pulwama fired at a joint search party of the Jammu and Kashmir Police Special Operations Group and the BSF last evening with automatic weapons.

The forces immediately retaliated and the exchange continued for several hours.

Later, the bodies of three militants were recovered near the site of the encounter. A BSF Assistant Commandant and a police constable were injured. The BSF officer died on way to hospital.

Three rifles, a grenade launcher, nine magazines, a pistol and a wireless set were recovered from the slain militants. The house was also gutted in the fire exchange.

Militants attacked a police guard at Choora bridge in Baramula district last evening. Guards returned the fire and a constable was killed in the shootout.

Militants entered the house of Mohammad Yousuf Khan at Lassana and slit his throat while the body of a militant Abu Sood was recovered from Hayatpora last evening.

Forces shot dead a militant during a search operation at Palnar forest in the frontier district of Kupwara last evening. An assault rifle, a grenade and a wireless set were recovered from the slain militant.

The forces recovered two rifles, 15 rockets, three remote-controlled devices, 2 kg of explosives, two pistols, 8 kg of RDX, eight grenades and Rs 20,000 in the state during overnight operations.