Militants stormed into the Delhi Public School (DPS) premises after leaving a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer dead after attacking the convoy of the paramiltary forces on the busy national highway this evening..

A CRPF officer was killed when militants attacked a road opening party (ROP) of the paramilitary forces on Srinagar-Jammu highway near Pantha Chowk in outskirt’s of Srinagar, source said. In a statement issued to the local news agencies after the incident, the militant  organization Lashkar-e-Toiba has claimed the responsibility for the attack that took place at around 5:50 PM.

Official sources said that the militants attacked the personnel of 29 Battalion of CRPF near DPS school at Pantha Chowk at around 6:00 pm, injuring an Assistant Sub Inspector identified as Shab Shukla. As per reports militants opened fire and ran towards the DPS school in Srinagar after killing one CRPF officer while injuring two other jawans and a civilian. The police said two to three attackers are on the run and a search operation is currently underway to nab them. Entire area has been combed and due to the attack the movement of the people on Srinagar-Jammu national highway was affected. Searches and frisking continued on the highway after the gunfight that came only a day after the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) was beaten to death at Jamai Masjid in Srinagar.

Officials said that injured CRPF men were shifted to nearby army’s 92 base hospital Badamibagh where the ASI succumbed to his injuries. A civilian is also said to be injured in the shootout.

Soon after the attack, army, SOG and CRPF cordoned off the entire area and launched a manhunt to nab the assailants, who are said to have entered into the DPS school campus.

The CRPF personnel, part of road opening deployment, were sitting inside their vehicle at Pantha chowk bypass along the Srinagar-Jammu national highway when the attack took place.   Militants were hiding in the school complex which has four huge buildings in the compound. 20 staffers from the school have been evacuated as of now.

Meanwhile, LeT spokesman Dr Abdullah Ghazanavi in a statement told a local news gathering agency that the militant outfit carried out the attack. He claimed that three paramilitary forces personnel were killed while several others were injured in the attack. As per reports the firing was going on between the militants and forces when the last news poured in. CRPF spokesman, Rajesh Yadav, said that the militants rushed into the DPS after the attack.

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