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Modi condemns Kashmir base attack
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MILITANTS armed with guns and grenades killed 17 soldiers in a raid on an army base in Indian-administered Kashmir yesterday. It was the worst such attack for more than a decade in the disputed Himalayan region.
The rebels broke into the base near the town of Uri before dawn and lobbed grenades at tents and barracks before opening fire.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to punish those behind the “cowardly” and “despicable” attack that also left four militants dead and scores of soldiers injured.
“We strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Uri. I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished,” Modi said.
No one has so far claimed responsibility, but Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that he was disappointed with “Pakistan’s continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups.”
Pakistan rejected allegations that it was involved. “India immediately puts blame on Pakistan without doing any investigation. We reject this,” foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said.
India regularly accuses its arch-rival Pakistan of “arming and sending” rebels across the heavily militarized border that divides Kashmir between the two countries to launch attacks on its forces.
Tents and other temporary accommodation for soldiers caught fire during yesterday’s raid and subsequent gunbattle at brigade headquarters near the border known as the Line of Control, an army official said.
Twenty-eight injured soldiers were airlifted to a military hospital, four of them in a critical condition, an officer said.
“We salute the sacrifice of 17 soldiers who were martyred in the operation,” the army said in a statement.
Muslim-majority Indian-held Kashmir is currently in the grip of deadly civilian unrest that has lasted for more than two months.
Protesting residents are clashing almost daily with security forces in the worst crowd violence since 2010.
At least 87 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in the latest protests against Indian rule, sparked by the killing of a popular rebel leader in a gunbattle with soldiers on July 8.
The government has been coming under growing pressure over the level of casualties and over the security forces’ use of shotguns loaded with pellets which can blind demonstrators.
Thousands of angry demonstrators defied a curfew on Saturday in Kashmir to attend the funeral of a schoolboy whose body was found riddled with pellets, sparking fresh clashes.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two gained independence from British rule in 1947.
Both countries claim the territory in full and have fought two of their three wars over the region.
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