17 soldiers killed in attack at Indian army base in Kashmir

Tents and buildings were set on fire as a battle raged across the base for several hours. Afterward, military helicopters hovered over the base as the army conducted what it described as “mopping up” operations.

Of the 17 jawans killed, 13 or 14 could, according to the initial reports, have succumbed to the flames caused by the incendiary grenades and which engulfed the tented barracks in which the soldiers were sleeping at 5.30 am on the morning of September 18 when the attack began.

Margarita Island: Continuing with its efforts to internationalise the Kashmir issue, Pakistan on Sunday raised the matter in Margarita Island at the NAM summit, saying the 120-nation group should be “outraged” by the situation there. In terms of the number of fatalities, this is the deadliest terrorist attack on an Indian military base in J&K since the year 2002 when 31 citizens were killed at Kalachuk, including three army personnel and 15 of their family members. “Indian contention of Pakistan’s involvement in Kashmir is false and ungrounded altogether”.

Director General Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said in Delhi that the army found some articles with “Pakistan markings” from the slain terrorists.

The attack came amid an ongoing civilian unrest in the Kashmir valley that has left almost 90 persons dead in the last two and half months. “India will not be cowed down by such attacks”.

The army officials said the rebels entered the sprawling camp after crossing a stream and breaching the fencing Saturday night. They launched an attack which resulted in a fire.

Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in recent weeks has signalled a more muscular approach in his country’s rivalry with Pakistan, strongly condemned what he called the “cowardly terror attack”.

Commenting on India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement to declare Pakistan a terrorist state, Zakaria said, “India is trying to divert world’s attention from the human rights violations being committed in occupied Kashmir”. “I am deeply disappointed with Pakistan’s continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups”, he tweeted.

The epicenter of the vitriolic disagreement between Pakistan and India continues to be Kashmir, and it’s clear that the situation gets worse every week.

However, there are many others strong reasons to believe that now Kashmiri people particularly young generation has probably chose to intensify their struggle for liberation of Kashmir while throwing out Indian forces from the territory. A militant uprising and subsequent army crackdown since 1989 have killed more than 68,000 people.

“Pakistan-based militant groups have been openly expressing sympathy with the victims (of security forces’ firing) and perhaps they wanted to send a message that they were avenging these deaths”, a source in the Mehbooba Mufti government said.

Smoke rises from the Army brigade camp during a terror attack at Uri in north Kashmir. “The United States is committed to our strong partnership with the Indian government to combat terrorism”, he said in a statement. This is the highest casualty the Indian Army has suffered in a single attack in the last several years. A sweeping military crackdown and near-constant curfew have followed. More than 80 civilians have been killed in clashes with Indian forces and hundreds more have been grievously wounded with pellet guns. The town is near the de facto border between India and Pakistan in the disputed region.