Three of the other Armymen killed in the attack have been identified as Subedar B D Sharma, Havaldar Maharana and driver Abdul Haq. The other two Army personnel are yet to be identified.

The Army has cordoned off the entire area from Sonwar to Panthachowk and is not allowing even the police to go. Electricity is off and no phone inside the Cantonment is working.

The fate of three journalists, who were in the PRO's office at the time of the attack, is also not known.

Soon after the attack, an unknown caller identifying himself as a spokesman of the Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit had been calling newspaper offices in Pratap Park press enclave claiming responsibility for theattack saying a suicide squad (fidayeen of the organisation had stormed the Corps headquarters.A defence spokesman, who was contacted by The Indian Express at around 11 pm, said the Army has suffered six casualties in this attack including Maj Purushottam. ``At around 6 pm three to four militants barged into the the PRO's office and opened fire killing six personnel including the PRO,'' he said. ``How the militants managed to sneak inside the Cantonment is not clear as yet. A major operation was immediately launched which is still continuing,'' he said.

A senior intelligence officer told The Indian Express that the preliminary reports received by him suggest that around 5.30 pm the militants lobbed a grenade just before the Batwara main gate of the Corps headquarter followed by the attack on the post at the gate. ``A group of three militants climbed over the wall and jumped into the compound of the PRO's office,'' he said.Confirming the death of Maj Purushottam and three others inside the office, theofficer however said the picture is not clear as yet as firing is still going on.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range Gopal Sharma, said the encounter is still on and nothing is clear as yet. He, however, confirmed the death of Maj Purushottam and three of his colleagues inside his office. ``A complete picture will emerge after the operations conclude,'' he said.

Inspector General of Border Security Force, K Vijaykumar also said that he was not aware of the actual happenings inside the Corps headquarters.He, however, admitted one BSF jawan got killed outside on the road. ``We lost a boy,'' he said. ``One of our officers was arriving here today and they were going to fetch him from Panthachowk. The armymen at the Military Police post before the Batwara gate stopped our vehicles and diverted them as firing was going on. And as soon as they parked their vehicle in the school ground nearby, a militant hiding behind a wall opened fire killing one of our boys on the spot,'' Vijaykumar said.

``I tooheard about the three journalists but there is no information as what to happened to them,'' he said. Three journalists, S Tariq of ANI, Habibullah Naqash of Asian Age and Fayaz Ahmad of NDTV had gone to meet the PRO to get permission to visit the Line of Control. Ironically, Maj Purushottam conducted a press conference of the Corps Commander, Lt Gen Pal hours before this incident.