J&K attack: All three terrorists killed after four-hour gunbattle

Mangalore Today News Network/NDTV

Jammu, Sep 26, 2013: The three terrorists who sneaked into Jammu and Kashmir and killed 12 people today, have been gunned down, the Indian Army has said.

 

Sanitisation operations are currently on at the Army cantonment in the Samba district where the gunmen were killed after a four-hour-long gunbattle. The Army has confirmed that the bodies of all three terrorists have been found. Police sources have ruled out the possibility of a fourth terrorist.

The terrorists, dressed in army fatigues, today attacked first a police station and then an Army camp in J&K. A Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army is among the 12 people killed by them.

The audacious attack comes just three days before the Prime Minister meets his Pakistani counterpart in the US. Dr Manmohan Singh has called it "one more attack and barbarism by enemies of peace" and made it clear that his plans remain unchanged. "We will not allow it to derail our attempts to find resolution through the dialogue process," he said in a statement.


"Four terrorists entered Jammu region from across the border this morning," said Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, quoting preliminary reports, according to PTI. The news agency also quotes the Army as saying that it foiled a major infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Keran sector of Kupwara yesterday and that around 30 militants are still believed to be trapped as security forces have cordoned off the area.

The heavily armed terrorists attacked the Hiranagar police station in Kathua district of J&K at about 6.45 this morning. They shot the sentry outside and three cops inside the police station and then escaped in a truck that they hijacked, to surface in an Army cantonment in the adjoining Samba district.

At the camp, they reportedly walked into the officer’s mess shouting jihadi slogans and killed at least five unarmed Armymen, including the Lt Col, who was the second in command of the 16 Cavalry, the armoured corp unit attacked today.  The Lieutenant Colonel was reportedly shot in the stomach at point back range.

The commanding officer of 16 Cavalry is among over a dozen people injured in the two attacks. He has been shot twice and is in critical condition.

BJP president Rajnath Singh said, "The PM is in a hurry to start dialogue with Pakistan. There should be no talks with Pakistan unless there is a conducive environment." Mr Singh accused Pakistan of "continuing with its strategy to strike at will through a proxy war of terror."


But Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said the terror attacks today were clearly aimed at derailing the proposed dialogue between the two PMs and that not going ahead with the talks would mean "the militants have won.