DTN News: India TODAY January 08, 2010 ~ Indian Troops Storm Hotel, End Siege In Central Srinagar

DTN News: India TODAY January 08, 2010 ~ Indian Troops Storm Hotel, End Siege In Central Srinagar *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) SRINAGAR, India - January 08, 2010: Commandos stormed a hotel in Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday where two militants had been holed up for nearly 24 hours, killing the gunmen and bringing an end to the siege.SRINAGAR, INDIA - JANUARY 07: A fire engulfs a hotel following a gun battle between Indian police suspected militants on January 7, 2010 in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Two Pakistani trained militants were killed when Indian troops stormed a hotel on Thursday morning in Kashmir. Militants opened fire and lobbed grenades from inside the hotel where they took refuge on Wednesday for nearly 22 hours, police said. The four-storey hotel in Srinagar, the summer capital of the volatile Himalayan region, was on fire before police announced both extremists had been killed in a morning assault by security forces. The gunmen – one a Pakistani and the other an Indian Kashmiri, according to police – had taken refuge in the hotel on Wednesday after throwing grenades and opening fire in Srinagar’s main market area. One police officer was killed in the attack and one bystander succumbed to his injuries Thursday. “The operation as far as we are concerned is over,” Kuldeep Khuda, the state police chief, told reporters at the scene. A militant group, Jamiat-ul-Mujahedin, claimed it was behind the assault, which left five police and four civilians injured. Police pointed the finger at the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). Overnight in Srinagar, police fired teargas to disperse scores of anti-India and pro-militant youths who threw stones at security forces, chanting “Kashmiri Mujahedeen, we are with you” and “We want freedom”. Khuda said the police had cleared the building from the top floor before encountering and killing the first militant early Thursday.SRINAGAR, INDIA - JANUARY 07: An Indian policeman carries a rocket propelled grenade launcher (RPGL) before storming a hotel during a gun battle between Indian police and suspected militants on January 7, 2010 in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Two Pakistani trained militants were killed when Indian troops stormed a hotel on Thursday morning in Kashmir. Militants opened fire and lobbed grenades from inside the hotel where they took refuge on Wednesday for nearly 22 hours, police said. “The other terrorist tried to set the building on fire... and he tried to make his escape but he was shot down,” he said. Wednesday’s assault came as Indian Kashmir’s chief minister marked his first year in office by pledging to slash the security force presence in the region if violence continued to decline.