Terrorists attack J&K Cong HQ; 20 injured

Terrorists triggered four grenade blasts within a span of two hours targeting Congress headquarters and a NC campaign vehicle.

Stepping up attacks ahead of Monday's Lok Sabha polls in this constituency, terrorists on Friday triggered four grenade blasts within a span of two hours targeting Congress headquarters and a National Conference campaign vehicle injuring 20 people, including a DSP, six other securitymen and two scribes.

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Terrorists lobbed three grenades at the state Congress headquarters, located in the heart of the city near Lal Chowk, injuring 13 people, including Deputy Superintendent of Police of Special Services Bureau CC Pathak critically, six other security personnel and two scribes, they said.

The unspecified number of terrorists also tried to storm the building but fled after the security personnel deployed there opened fire, the sources said.

They were initially believed to be holed up in a nearby building but the operation to flush them out, launched after evacuating workers from Congress headquarters and students from neighbouring women's college and College of Education, was called off as the search party found nobody there.

Two terrorist outfits Al-Mansurian and Kashmir Freedom Force, shadow outfit of Lashker-e-Taiba, have separately claimed responsibility for the attack.