Seven Indian soldiers were killed after militants disguised as policemen stormed a major army base on Tuesday, as tensions between the two neighbours ran high after weeks of cross-border firing.
Four suspected militants were also killed in the stand-off with security forces inside the command centre in the occupied Kashmir state that lasted most of the day.
It was the most audacious attack on an Indian military base since September, when 19 soldiers were killed in an assault.
The army in a statement said four of its soldiers were killed in the initial assault after heavily armed militants wearing police uniforms stormed the base early Tuesday firing small arms and hurling grenades.
Three army men were killed in a rescue operation after the militants took 16 people hostage inside two buildings used by the families of the army officers.
Two women and children were among the hostages, the army said.
“In this rescue attempt one more officer and two jawans sacrificed their lives,” it added
Three bodies of the attackers have been recovered and operation to sanitise the complex continues, the statement said.
One of the dead soldier was a major while the rank of another officer remained unclear.
Earlier a senior local police officer said all four militants were killed in the counter-attack by security forces.
“Now the search operation is going on inside the premises,” the officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The base is one of four command centres in the restive region and home to over 1,000 officers.
The attack also comes days before a scheduled visit to India by Pakistan’s foreign affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz for a weekend conference on Afghanistan.
— ‘Sabotage’ peace —
“It clearly suggests there is an attempt by certain groups to sabotage the apparent peace outreach by Pakistan’s government,” said Mohan Guruswamy, head of the Centre for Policy Alternatives think-tank in New Delhi.
Separately, Indian authorities said three militants were killed in a shoot-out with security forces.
India and Pakistan both claim the region in full and their troops regularly exchange fire across the LoC, but they rarely send ground troops over the line.
There have been repeated incidents of cross-border shelling and gunfire from both sides, claiming the lives of dozens of people, including civilians.
Pakistan said last week that at least nine people had been killed when a shell fired from the Indian side hit a bus.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said last week he was “deeply concerned” by the deterioration in the security situation in Kashmir and urged both countries to work together to “reach durable peace”.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the territory in full and have fought two wars over the mountainous region. (AFP)
