Terror struck an Army camp in North Kashmir’s Uri town when militants stormed a battalion headquarters in the wee hours on Sunday.
The Army camp is located barely few metres away from the Army’s Brigade Headquarters in Uri town.
The attack comes two years after militants had carried out a similar type of attack at Mohra in the same area. Ten security personnel were killed in the attack that took place on December 5, 2014.
The terrorists, said to be fidayeen or a suicide squad, sneaked into the base around 5 am, threw grenades and started firing indiscriminately, causing the highest deaths the army has suffered in a single attack in years.
Most of the soldiers were killed when their tents caught fire in the grenade attack. Visuals showed thick smoke rising from the base on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway.
Four “fidayeen” were confirmed killed after sneaking into the base near the Line of Control with Pakistan, the worst single attack on the army in 26 years.
More than 30 soldiers were injured, many of them critically, stoking fears that the death toll will rise.
Strongly condemn Uri attack. Attack seems to be aimed at triggering fresh violence and creating a war-like situation in the region. Heartfelt condolences to bereaved families and also pray for early recovery of those injured in the attack, says J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti.
J&K has always been worst victim of Indo-Pak hostility and its people have been paying a colossal price for same for past over six, J&K CM adds.
Strongly reacting on the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “We strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Uri. I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished.”
Home minister Rajnath Singh hit out at Pakistan, calling it a terror state that needed to be “identified and isolated”.
“I am deeply disappointed with Pakistan’s continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups,” he tweeted.
Soon after Singh pointed a finger at Pakistan, its foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria dismissed the accusation. “India immediately puts blame on Pakistan without doing any investigation. We reject this,” Zakaria said.
