Three terrorists believed to have freshly infiltrated from Pakistan on Thursday stormed a police station and then an army camp in Jammu, killing 10 people, before being shot dead by elite army forces, three days ahead of a dialogue between Indian and Pakistani prime ministers.
Director general of police Ashok Prasad said the terrorists wearing army fatigues boarded an auto-rickshaw at gun point from Hariya Chuk graveyard in village Jhandi, barely a kilometer from the international border, and asked the driver Roshan Lal to take them to the army camp at Hiranagar.
Unable to locate the camp, the militants first hurled grenades and then stormed the police station - close to the international border with Pakistan - killing four officials. They also gunned down the owner of a PCO nearby.
The terrorists then hijacked a truck after killing its cleaner, Mohammad Feroz, a resident of Kashmir valley. Soon after the driver stopped the vehicle outside the camp of cavalry armoured unit at Samba, 15km from the police station, the terrorists fired indiscriminately at jawans guarding the gate.
Once inside the premises, they entered the officers' mess, killing Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh, the second-in-command of the unit and three jawans; and seriously injuring the unit's commanding officer Col A Uthaiah, who has been admitted to the ICU of a military hospital in Pathankot.
After a gunfight lasting several hours, all three militants, aged between 16 and 19, were killed by commandos and quick action teams. Television reports showed tanks moving inside the camp to hunt the attackers.
The other deceased army personnel killed in the attack on the Samba camp have been identified as sepoys Kiran Kumar Reddy, MS Rao and Daya Singh.
The injured have been identified as commanding officer of the unit, Col Avin Achien and Sepoy Inder Singh, a defence spokesman said.
Six persons killed in attack on a police station in Hiranagar of Kathua district have been identified as ASI Rattan Singh, selection grade constable Kuldeep Singh, constable Shiv Kumar, special police officer Mukesh Kumar, and shopkeepers Suresh Kumar and Firdous Ahmed, police officials said.
Those injured in the attack include ASI Ganga Ram, constable Rattan Chand and auto-rickshaw driver Roshan Lal, they added.
A caller identifying himself as the spokesman of Shohada Brigade (Martyrs' Brigade), believed to be an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, told PTI on phone that the outfit carried out the twin terror attacks many believe were aimed at derailing the proposed talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
In the past too, militants have carried out such attacks ahead of important political events. The worst among them was the massacre of 36 Sikhs in a south Kashmir village during the India visit of then US president Bill Clinton.
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the terrorists had come from across the border this morning and carried out the audacious attack.
Such acts won't derail peace efforts, says PM
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday condemned the twin terrorist attacks in Jammu and said such acts would not succeed in "derailing the efforts to find a resolution to all problems through dialogue".
"This is one more in a series of provocations and barbaric actions by the enemies of peace," Singh said in a statement, en route to the US to attend the UN General Assembly session on the sidelines of which he will meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Sunday for talks.
"We are firmly resolved to combat and defeat the terrorist menace that continues to receive encouragement and reinforcement from across the border," he said.
Pakistan also condemned the attack, saying "Terrorism is a pernicious evil and Pakistan has been its foremost victim."
A statement by Pakistan High Commission said, "We are committed to leaving no stone unturned to eliminate the spectre of terrorist violence from our society and our region."
Meanwhile, BJP president Rajnath Singh asked the PM to call off the dialogue.
"The PM is in a hurry to start a dialogue with Pakistan. There should be no talks with Pakistan unless there is a conducive environment," Singh said on a Twitter post.
Rejecting BJP's demand to call off prime ministerial level talks with Pakistan in New York, Congress said the terror strike in Jammu is an attempt to derail the peace process and wondered whether the saffron party also wanted the same.
"Who are opposing Peace and dialogue? Only militants, BJP and drawing room hawks and some hawkish elements in the media," Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh tweeted.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said the attacks were aimed at derailing the Singh-Sharif dialogue.
He told a news channel the two countries will be playing into the hands of the terrorists if they call off peace talks because of this attack.
"Given what we have seen over the past 20 years, I would speculate that this group had infiltrated within last 24 hours. I doubt that they had been there any longer than that," he said.
"We do know that from time to time, (the) forces inimical to dialogue have sought to derail the process even though the Pakistan government has thrown its weight behind such a process," he said.
Source: hindustantimes
.JPG "An injured policeman in Jammu after militants attacked") |
| An injured policeman is rushed to a hospital in Jammu after militants attacked |
Unable to locate the camp, the militants first hurled grenades and then stormed the police station - close to the international border with Pakistan - killing four officials. They also gunned down the owner of a PCO nearby.
The terrorists then hijacked a truck after killing its cleaner, Mohammad Feroz, a resident of Kashmir valley. Soon after the driver stopped the vehicle outside the camp of cavalry armoured unit at Samba, 15km from the police station, the terrorists fired indiscriminately at jawans guarding the gate.
Once inside the premises, they entered the officers' mess, killing Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh, the second-in-command of the unit and three jawans; and seriously injuring the unit's commanding officer Col A Uthaiah, who has been admitted to the ICU of a military hospital in Pathankot.
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| Indo Pak relation |
After a gunfight lasting several hours, all three militants, aged between 16 and 19, were killed by commandos and quick action teams. Television reports showed tanks moving inside the camp to hunt the attackers.
The other deceased army personnel killed in the attack on the Samba camp have been identified as sepoys Kiran Kumar Reddy, MS Rao and Daya Singh.
The injured have been identified as commanding officer of the unit, Col Avin Achien and Sepoy Inder Singh, a defence spokesman said.
Six persons killed in attack on a police station in Hiranagar of Kathua district have been identified as ASI Rattan Singh, selection grade constable Kuldeep Singh, constable Shiv Kumar, special police officer Mukesh Kumar, and shopkeepers Suresh Kumar and Firdous Ahmed, police officials said.
Those injured in the attack include ASI Ganga Ram, constable Rattan Chand and auto-rickshaw driver Roshan Lal, they added.
A caller identifying himself as the spokesman of Shohada Brigade (Martyrs' Brigade), believed to be an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, told PTI on phone that the outfit carried out the twin terror attacks many believe were aimed at derailing the proposed talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
In the past too, militants have carried out such attacks ahead of important political events. The worst among them was the massacre of 36 Sikhs in a south Kashmir village during the India visit of then US president Bill Clinton.
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the terrorists had come from across the border this morning and carried out the audacious attack.
Such acts won't derail peace efforts, says PM
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday condemned the twin terrorist attacks in Jammu and said such acts would not succeed in "derailing the efforts to find a resolution to all problems through dialogue".
"This is one more in a series of provocations and barbaric actions by the enemies of peace," Singh said in a statement, en route to the US to attend the UN General Assembly session on the sidelines of which he will meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Sunday for talks.
"We are firmly resolved to combat and defeat the terrorist menace that continues to receive encouragement and reinforcement from across the border," he said.
Pakistan also condemned the attack, saying "Terrorism is a pernicious evil and Pakistan has been its foremost victim."
A statement by Pakistan High Commission said, "We are committed to leaving no stone unturned to eliminate the spectre of terrorist violence from our society and our region."
Meanwhile, BJP president Rajnath Singh asked the PM to call off the dialogue.
"The PM is in a hurry to start a dialogue with Pakistan. There should be no talks with Pakistan unless there is a conducive environment," Singh said on a Twitter post.
Rejecting BJP's demand to call off prime ministerial level talks with Pakistan in New York, Congress said the terror strike in Jammu is an attempt to derail the peace process and wondered whether the saffron party also wanted the same.
"Who are opposing Peace and dialogue? Only militants, BJP and drawing room hawks and some hawkish elements in the media," Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh tweeted.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said the attacks were aimed at derailing the Singh-Sharif dialogue.
He told a news channel the two countries will be playing into the hands of the terrorists if they call off peace talks because of this attack.
"Given what we have seen over the past 20 years, I would speculate that this group had infiltrated within last 24 hours. I doubt that they had been there any longer than that," he said.
"We do know that from time to time, (the) forces inimical to dialogue have sought to derail the process even though the Pakistan government has thrown its weight behind such a process," he said.
Source: hindustantimes
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