Punjab Police, air force security agencies, Border Security Force (BSF), army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and all intelligence agencies, which have made a common grid to deal with terror threats, remained engaged in discussions after reports poured in about the Uri attack. Four terrorists were also killed. “We salute the sacrifice of 17 soldiers who were martyred in the operation”, the Indian Army said in a statement.
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Heavily-armed militants attacked the army camp at Uri early on Sunday morning, killing 17 soldiers and wounding many others.
Four “fidayeen”-or commando-style gunmen willing to fight to the death-were confirmed killed after penetrating the base in Uri near the Line of Control with Pakistan, an Indian army spokesman said”.
The attack came with Kashmir in middle of the largest anti-India protests against Indian rule in recent years since the July 8 killing of a popular rebel commander by Indian troops. Protesting residents are clashing nearly daily with security forces in the worst such violence since 2010.
India’s Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh called an emergency meeting with his senior officials and announced via Twitter that he was postponing visits to Russian Federation and the United States to deal with the situation.
He cancelled planned trips to Russian Federation and the United States.
“In the counter action, four terrorists have been eliminated and combing operations are in progress”.
“It is clearly a case of the cross-border terror attack. We don’t know which militant group is involved”, he was quoted saying.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while expressing sympathies with the bereaved families tweeted that those responsible for Uri attack won’t go unpunished.
Soldiers are now searching the base, 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of the region’s main city of Srinagar, for any more militants, the statement said.
“It is a clear attack on India by Pakistan”. But Singh said he is “disappointed with Pakistan’s continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups”. New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based groups of fomenting the protests, a charge that Islamabad denies.
India has slammed Pakistan’s interference in Kashmir, terming it an “internal matter”.
India accuses Pakistan of training the militants in its territory then helping them to infiltrate into the Indian side.
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In St. Cloud, Minnesota, police said at least eight people were injured at a shopping mall Saturday evening in a stabbing attack. Many Indian observers have accused Pakistan of supporting an armed separatist movement in the region for decades.
