Militants attack Indian army camp in Kashmir again
SRINAGAR, India -- An unspecified number of militants fired grenades and guns at an Indian army camp in the Indian portion of Kashmir on Sunday night, triggering an exchange of gunfire that killed one Indian paramilitary soldier and wounded another, police said.
Police officer Syed Javeid Mujataba Gillani said it was not immediately known whether the militants tried to enter the camp in the garrison town of Baramulla, 30 miles northwest of Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir. The camp is the local headquarters of a counterinsurgency military unit.
The paramilitary soldiers hit by gunfire were also stationed in the army camp, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
Sunday’s attack came three days after the Indian army claimed it had carried out a “surgical strike” in the region and destroyed “terrorist launching pads” used by the militants with support from Pakistan.
The Indian assault followed a deadly rebel attack on another Indian base in Kashmir. On Sept. 18, suspected rebels using guns and grenades sneaked into an army base in Uri, a town in Indian-controlled Kashmir, and killed at least 18 soldiers.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgents fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan, a charge Pakistan denies.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan. The longtime rivals have fought two wars for control of the Himalayan territory since British colonialists left in 1947. Both claim it in its entirety.