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Gunbattle rages after Kashmir rebels storm Indian army base
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An Indian soldier takes position outside an army camp at Nagrota, in the outskirts of Jammu, India, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. (AP/Channi Anand)
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ebels fighting against Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir stormed an Indian military base Tuesday morning, triggering a fierce gunbattle that left three army soldiers and a militant dead, officials said.
At the same time in another part of Kashmir, Indian border forces came across three suspected militants who had allegedly crossed the border from Pakistan into India, touching off another exchange of fire in which all three were killed, paramilitary officials said.
The renewed violence followed a five-day lull in fighting between Indian and Pakistani troops, who have been exchanging heavy mortar and artillery fire for months across the de facto border that divides Kashmir between the two nations. India has accused Pakistan of helping anti-India rebels stage deadly attacks on its military compounds — an allegation Pakistan denies.
Early Tuesday, up to four militants disguised in police uniforms opened fire on the military camp in Nagrota, a town on the main highway connecting Kashmir's two main cities of Srinagar and Jammu, according to senior police officer K. Rajendra.
The militants then stormed the base and made their way to an area of the compound storing artillery, lobbing grenades and drawing troops into exchanging fire, said another police officer, S.P. Vaid. Three Indian soldiers, including two officers, and one militant were killed in the fighting, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because of department policy. The officer said at least three other soldiers were wounded in the attack.
With the militants hiding within the compound, the gunbattle was still raging inside.
Army officials described the rebels as "fidayeen," a term for militants ready to sacrifice their lives for a cause.
No other details were immediately available. Authorities closed the Srinagar-Jammu highway and ordered nearby schools to close as the fighting raged in Nagrota.
The attack was the most audacious on an Indian military base since a Sept. 18 assault on an army base in the town of Uri. That attack left 19 Indian army soldiers and four suspected militants dead, and escalated tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.
India accused Pakistan of helping those militants with weapons, training and logistics, and said it sent troops across the border to launch "surgical strikes" against militants in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir.
Since then, soldiers from both sides have pounded each other's military positions along the UN-drawn cease-fire line, now referred to as the Line of Control. At least 73 people, including civilians and soldiers, have been killed on both sides.
Meanwhile, relations at the government level have worsened, with the two nations expelling diplomats from their capitals as each side accuses the other of starting the fight.
India's Border Security Force said its soldiers on Tuesday gunned down three suspected militants who had infiltrated from Pakistan and were hiding behind bushes in the border district of Samba.
While clearing the militants' bodies, one of them — allegedly booby-trapped — exploded and injured four Indian soldiers and a police officer, according to a border officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief journalists.
India and Pakistan each administer a portion of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. They have fought two wars over those claims since 1947.
Meanwhile, rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Muslim-majority region to either gain independence or merge with Pakistan. At least 70,000 people have been killed in that uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.
