Another trooper killed in gov't building standoff in Indian-controlled Kashmir, toll rises to 5

Another Indian military trooper was killed Sunday in the ongoing gunfight at a government building occupied by militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

The standoff is ongoing at a multi-storey government building of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) at Pampore town of Pulwama district, about 24 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"We have lost another soldier fighting militants at EDI building," Indian army spokesman Col N N Joshi told Xinhua. "The soldier was wounded and later succumbed to his wounds in hospital."

With the killing of the trooper, the death toll in the attack has risen to five.

Early Sunday morning, a young army officer was killed while trying to enter the building. Two paramilitary troopers of India's Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a civilian were killed on Saturday.

"Prior to entering the building, militants attacked our convoy in which 11 personnel were wounded and of them two succumbed," CRPF spokesman Bhavesh Chaudhury told Xinhua. "Later on four CRPF men were wounded while they were trying to enter the building to take on militants there."

According to Chaudhury, 13 CRPF personnel wounded in the attack were undergoing treatment at a hospital.

The slain civilian, an employee at EDI, was caught in crossfire between militants and paramilitary troopers during the initial attack.

Meanwhile, sound of heavy gunfire and explosions can be heard near the gunfight site.

An intermittent exchange of fire is going on between the militants (believed to be three in number) inside the building and troops outside, police officials said.

On Saturday, authorities had to evacuate more than 100 people, including trainees and employees of the EDI when militants made their entry inside it.

Adjacent to the EDI building is a CRPF camp.

A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989. Gunfights between the two sides take place intermittently across the region.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Endit