Militants storm army camp in Kashmir, kill two

intern

November 29, 2016 12:48 PM

A senior army official said up to four gunmen attacked the large base in Nagrota just before dawn.

A policeman checks an identity card of a passenger at a checkpoint amid tightened security.

Militants attacked an army base near the Indian city of, killing two security personnel before taking positions inside the complex, officials said Jammu on Tuesday.

"One militant was killed and three soldiers were also wounded,’" the official said.

Police said in a separate attack to the south of Jammu, Indian border forces killed three of five or six militants who were trying to cross into India along the disputed frontier with Pakistan.

Jammu is the winter capital of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state, part of the Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir that has been divided between arch-rivals India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947.

However, Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries.

Attacks against Indian security forces have increased in recent months, while Indian and Pakistani cross-border firing along the heavily militarised frontier has intensified as tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours has risen.

The attacks came on the same day Pakistan’s new army chief, Lt.-Gen. Qamar Bajwa, took charge.

Recently, Pakistan officials are due in the Indian city of Amritsar for an Asian regional summit.

India accuses Pakistan of supporting militants based on its side of the border who cross over to launch attacks.

Pakistan denied that, accusing India of abusing the rights of Muslim Kashmiris opposed to Indian rule.

Kashmir has been gripped by protests since security forces killed a popular separatist leader in July.

A crackdown in response to the protests has paralyzed much of the region.

Nineteen Indian soldiers were killed in an attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir on Sept. 18 in the worst such assault in 14 years.

intern