BSF base attacked: Four killed in gunbattle near Srinagar airport

Three Indian paramilitary troopers and a police officer were injured in the attack

HELD SRINAGAR: Three Kashmiri militants, who stormed a paramilitary base near the main airport in occupied Kashmir on Tuesday were killed after an hours-long gunbattle that also left a Border Security Force (BSF) soldier dead, local police said.

Three paramilitary troopers and a police officer were injured when the attackers hurled grenades and fired automatic weapons at the BSF base next to the high-security Srinagar airport before dawn, said police director-general SP Vaid.

"All the three militants have been killed. An assistant sub-inspector of BSF also died in the initial assault," Vaid told AFP. Flights at the airport, which shares a compound wall with the base, resumed after being suspended briefly with at least one flight from New Delhi cancelled, authorities said.

The Inspector General of police, Muneer Ahmed Khan, blamed Jaish-e-Mohammed for the attack but denied some media reports that the fortified airport was the target. He told reporters the group was a threat "because they believe in surprise suicide attacks".

Tuesday's attack came a day after Indian army said it killed five suspected militants in two separate gunbattles on the Line of Control.