Wednesday, February 23 2005 14:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: Touched by the selfless service rendered by the Army personnel in avalanche hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir, five ultras surrendered to the troops in Kapran area of Anantnag district, Chief of Army Staff General J J Singh said in Srinagar today (Feb 23, 2005).

The militants, who were trapped in the snow-bound area, laid down their arms as they came across a group of Army personnel who were busy providing relief to the survivors and looking for bodies of those killed in Kapran area yesterday (Feb 22, 2005), Singh said.

"This has not happened for the first time ... Army has provided life saving treatment to many a militant injured during action, which led them to shun the path of violence," the Army Chief said.

Meanwhile, official sources said ten militants were among the 173 people killed by massive snow avalanches in Qazigund area of the district.

The bodies of the militants were retrieved by rescue cum search teams along with their weapons yesterday.

The sources said that security agencies were intercepting less number of radio messages between militants since the heavy snowfall on February 16.

"It seems that the ultras operating in the higher reaches of Pir Panchal range in South Kashmir might also be trapped in the snow," the sources said.

However, none of the messages intercepted by the security agencies over the past four days spoke about any militant casualty due to the snowfall.