Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, caught in a gun battle with security forces in a village in Kulgam district of south Kashmir, managed to escape in the wee hours of the day, despite a cordon being thrown by the Army in the surrounding areas.
Highly-placed sources said the terrorists gave a slip to troops at around 0600 hours from the house at Qoimoh in Kulgam, even as the army personnel, assisted by police, were preparing to launch an offensive against them.
A gun battle had broken out last night between LeT terrorists holed up in a house and security forces in Kulgam.
The help of some local people in the area to the terrorists was cited as the reason for their success to flee the area, the sources said, adding some of the persons had been rounded up.
The security forces had surrounded the house, acting on a tip-off about the presence of militants, sparking an intermittent exchange of fire between the two sides.
Security forces had suspended the flush-out operation in the congested locality late last night in order to avoid civilian casualties.
