Guerrillas hiding in Kashmir mosque

A senior police officer said some guerrillas, whose exact number is not known, enter the Tujan village mosque near Srinagar.

Police on Saturday surrounded a mosque in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district where some guerrillas are hiding and were trying to persuade them to leave the complex peacefully.

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A senior police officer told IANS that some guerrillas, whose exact number is not known, entered the Tujan village mosque, 45 km from Srinagar on Saturday afternoon.

"The mosque has been surrounded by the security forces and the militants are being persuaded to surrender. Right now no firing exchanges are taking place.

"Keeping in view the sensitive nature of the operation as it involves a place of worship, we are doing everything possible to persuade the holed up militants to lay down their arms and come out of the mosque complex," a senior police officer said here.

Members of the special operations group (SOG) of the state police and troops of counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles have taken up positions surrounding the mosque.

Reports said some villagers, who went to offer their prayers, are also inside the mosque complex.