SRINAGAR, 17 January 2005 — The 30-hour-long encounter between the security forces and the holed up militants ended yesterday evening with the death of four people —two paramilitary soldiers and the two militants.

The security forces had a tough time battling the two militants who held a strategic position inside the indoor stadium complex.

“The encounter has ended,” said the Srinagar district police chief Syed Ahmad Syed. “We have searched all the complex buildings. Two militants and two paramilitary troopers died in the gunbattle.” He said three soldiers and a civilian were injured in the exchange of fire.

The operation was suspended last evening as night fell even when all the exit points had been plugged to ensure the holed up militants did not get away.

Early yesterday morning fierce automatic firing resumed. This was followed by a blaze in the passport office. As fire trucks were pressed into service, troops stormed the passport office building and shot dead the militant holed up there.

Security forces also recovered the bodies of two paramilitary troopers including an officer. A police spokesman said the two died during the fierce exchange of fire in the morning.

The second militant managed to enter the adjoining youth hostel building in the afternoon, a police officer said. Security forces later stormed that building and gunned him down.

“We have neutralized both attackers,” Swarn Singh, deputy inspector general of the Central Reserve Police Force, said.

“Deafening sounds of explosions and the incessant boom of guns kept us awake. The fighting has now stopped,” said Javed Ahmed a local resident reached by phone.

The militants stormed the stadium complex in the heart of Srinagar on Saturday.

It was unclear why the rebels had targeted the complex. However, it is next to a police camp, which the guerrillas fired on, and adjacent to the main stadium where Jan. 26 Republic Day ceremonies — a common target for rebel attacks — will be held.

Guerrillas fighting Indian rule in Kashmir also frequently target government buildings to disrupt administration.

The Al-Mansoorain group, one of about a dozen outfits fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, has claimed responsibility for the raid. Al-Mansoorain is one of more than a dozen rebel groups fighting for Kashmir’s independence or for the Indian-controlled portion to join neighboring Pakistan.

The same group attacked a government building last week and set it on fire with dozens of employees inside. The two-day gunbattle left eight people dead.

There were no immediate details on how the policemen died.

In another incident, two people were killed and 17 wounded when militants threw a grenade at a rally for civic elections in Srinagar on Saturday.

Authorities normally step up security before India’s Republic Day as well as the Aug. 15 Independence Day, both of which have been key dates for militant attacks in the past.

India says separatist violence has declined in the turbulent region, but people are still killed daily in fighting between militants and soldiers.