Srinagar (September 26, 2013): According to a news reported by AFP: “Militants stormed a police station and an Indian army base in Kashmir on Thursday, killing at least nine (12 according to recent reports), in an attack […]”.
According to AFP: [a]t least three militants wearing army fatigues lobbed grenades and opened fire early Thursday at the Hiranagar police station near the border with Pakistan, around 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the main Kashmiri city of Srinagar, police said.
“They then hijacked a truck and drove to a nearby army base in Samba district in the southernmost part of the state where a fierce gunbattle with soldiers took place and Indian tanks were deployed, eyewitnesses and security sources said”, the report reads further..
Attack is barbaric but talks must go on: Indian PM
India’s prime minister branded Thursday’s attack by militants on an Indian police station and army camp in disputed Kashmir as “barbaric” but – without mentioning Pakistan – said it would not derail efforts to pursue peace through dialogue.
“This is one more in a series of provocations and barbaric actions by the enemies of peace,” Manmohan Singh said in a statement. “Such attacks will not deter us and will not succeed in derailing our efforts to find a resolution to all problems through a process of dialogue.”
Pakistan High Commission condemns attacks:
The Pakistan High Commission has put out a statement, condemning the militant attack in Kashmir, and reiterating that it should not come in the way of peace talks. “Our hearts go out in sympathy to families of all those who fell victim to the acts of terrorist violence in Jammu today. It is imperative that this senseless act of violence does not deter us from pursuing a path to a better future for our people”, the statement said.
Attackers came from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir: MHA
India’s Ministry of Home Affairs sources told CNN-IBN that the ‘terrorists’ involved in the attack are suspected to have come to the country from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
As per preliminary information, the four terrorists came from across the border, India’s Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shindey reportedly told media persons.
Attacks aimed at derailing Manmohan Singh-Nawaz Sharif talks: Omar Abdullah
J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the forces inimical to interests of Jammu and Kashmir have always tried to derail the peace process between India and Pakistan and the ‘terror strikes’ were a step in that direction.