Srinagar, March 10
At least five persons, including a suspected militant, were killed and 40 others injured in a grenade explosion following a scuffle at Wadwan village in Budgam district last night.

The police said that three masked gunmen intruded into the house of a contractor, Ghulam Hassan Dar, at Wadwan in Budgam district, last night and tried to kidnap him. The inmates after making hue and cry resisted and local people also came out of their houses to rescue them. The residents caught hold of one of the suspected militants, Bilal Ahmad Bhat of the nearby Naidgam village, who exploded a grenade. This resulted in the killing of five persons including the militant, and injuries to 40 others.

Four civilians killed in the explosion were identified as Wali Mohammad Dar, Ghulam Hassan Dar, Mohammad Subhan Dar and Sajad Wali Dar.

The residents alleged that the masked gunmen were counter-insurgents working for the security forces, while the officials here claimed that they were militants.

The police and security forces seized 5.5 kg of RDX and two hand grenades from a house under construction at Lal Bazar here this morning.

Suspected militants intruded into the house of Hakim Din on the outskirts of Kupwara town last night and chopped off the nose of his wife. She has been admitted to a hospital.

Meanwhile, the firefighting between the security forces and the militants holed up inside a building housing the Press Information Bureau and the State Information Department ended with the killing of two militants here early today.

Five jawans were injured in the incident, while the three-storeyed building was gutted causing heavy damage to shops and vehicles.

The police said that while one of the militants who tried to escape by jumping from a window of the building was shot dead by the police and security forces outside the building. The charred body of another militant was recovered from the debris this morning. Those killed have been identified as Zaid Mehmood alias Abdullah Hanan, alias Abu Mugaria, of Faisalabad, and Amir Hazarvai of Karachi, Pakistan.

The security agencies claimed that the two militants killed in the suicide attack belonged to the Al-Mansoorian outfit. They claimed that the Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit was making such attacks under the name of Al-Mansoorian, while Jaish-e-Mohammad had been resorting to such incidents under the name of Al-Madeena. As already reported the Al-Mansoorian outfit claimed responsibility of the attack. One AK rifle, one magazine and two hand grenades have been recovered from the debris.

Jammu (PTI): Army troops shot dead a self-styled Area Commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, while a villager was killed by militants in Udhampur district today, official sources said here.

A fierce gunbattle broke out this morning between troops and militants in the Gandoh area of Doda district when the Army launched a cordon-and-search operation, the sources said adding, a Pakistani militant was killed in the encounter.

He was identified as Abu Khubeb, self-styled Area Commander of HM, they said and added that he was active in the area for the past four years and was involved in several attacks on security forces as well as massacre of members of the minority community in Doda district.

The recoveries from the spot included one AK rifle, two magazines, five IEDs, seven grenades, one wireless set and some documents, they said.