Srinagar, Feb. 23: An Army captain, two soldiers and a suspected militant were killed and three soldiers and a civilian wounded in a fierce gunfight that broke out in the Kashmiri town of Sopore, 48 km northwest of here, on Tuesday.

Confirming the death of three of its men, the Army late on Tuesday evening said the slain soldiers were Captain Devinder Singh Jass, Naik Selva Kumar and paratrooper Imtiyaz Ahmad Thokar of 1 Para. Paratrooper Imtiyaz was a resident of Shopian district in the Kashmir Valley, the defence spokesperson, Lt. Col. J.S. Brar, said here. He added, "An encounter between terrorists and security forces is on at Chinkipora, Sopore, since Tuesday morning. A few top terrorists are believed to be have been injured or killed. The security forces have lost three men, including an officer. The operations are still in progress."

Army reinforcements were preparing for a final assault but since the bodies of the slain soldiers had not been retrieved as yet, they might not blow up the two houses in which top Lashkar-e-Tayyaba commanders are believed to have been trapped, as is usually done in such situations, said a police officer over the phone from Sopore. He added that while the body of Army jawan Imtiyaz was seen lying on the verandah of one of the two houses in which the militants had been trapped, those of Captain Jass and Naik Selva Kumar were apparently somewhere inside the house. Another body, believed to be that of a militant, was lying in the house compound, he said.

Unconfirmed reports from Sopore said the Army captain was taken hostage by the militants and later killed. According to these reports, when a fellow officer called on Captain Jass’ mobile phone to offer safe passage to the militants in lieu of his release, he was reportedly told by one of the militants, "We are ready to get killed. We’ve already killed your captain."

Captain Jaiswal of 1 Para, along with Naik Selva and soldiers Imtiaz and Shakeel, tried to storm the house, jointly owned by Abdul Khaliq Ganai and Nazir Ahmed Ganai, but had to face a barrage of gunfire and three grenades tossed by the holed-up militants, a report said.

The latest reports from Sopore said the operation, suspended at sunset, was likely to be resumed at first light on Wednesday. The area remained sealed off and floodlights had been put up at different places. The local population was earlier evacuated to safer places.

Officials here added that the gunfight started early Tuesday when the Army’s 1 Para and 22 Rashtriya Rifles, along with the CRPF and members of the local police’s counter-insurgency Special Operations Group, laid siege to Chankipora-Sheikh Mohalla locality in central Sopore after learning of the presence of the militants. "On specific information about the Lashkar commanders holding a meeting inside a private house the Army laid siege to the area and asked the holed-up militants to surrender, upon which they resorted to heavy automatic gunfire at the surrounding troops," the officials said. A police source said one of the most wanted Lashkar commanders, Abdullah Yuni, along with local commander Basharat Saleem and his accomplices Moulvi, Abu Hamza, Salahuddin, Tauseef and Noaman, all belonging to the Lashkar and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, were holding a meeting when the security forces arrived to mount the operation at 2.30 am.

Militants have been very active in Sopore and its neighbourhood and have lately carried out many attacks on police, paramilitary and Army personnel in the area, resulting in casualties on both sides as well as among civilians.

Yusuf Jameel