File Photo. Tauseef Mustafa—AFP
Seven soldiers, three police and three militants killed in ongoing gunbattle at army camp in Uri.
A militant attack on an army camp in Indian-administered Kashmir killed seven soldiers and three police on Friday, an official said, as the tense Muslim-majority state votes in local elections.
Three of the assailants also died in a shoot-out at the army camp in Uri, near the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the disputed Himalayan region. The attackers struck days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due to visit Kashmir, where thousands of extra paramilitary troops have been deployed for month-long local polls.
“Seven army men, three police and three terrorists died in the firing incident,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity. N. N. Joshi, the army spokesman in Srinagar said only that “the operation is on,” without giving any details. Uri is home to a large army base housing several hundred soldiers.
The Indian prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is staging a bold attempt to seize control of the Jammu and Kashmir legislature, a move unthinkable until very recently. The Hindu nationalist party has traditionally had no base in the Kashmir Valley, where residents’ resentment against Indian rule runs high.
Turnout was high for the first phase of voting in Jammu and Kashmir state on Nov. 25, when more than 70 percent of the electorate cast their ballots in 15 constituencies. But the polls have brought increased violence. Friday’s attack followed a major gun battle earlier this week in which an Indian soldier and six militants were killed. On Monday suspected rebels shot dead a village leader in an apparent attempt to disrupt the elections.
About a dozen rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 for independence or to merge the territory with Pakistan. The fighting has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians. Most separatist leaders opposed to Indian rule were either arrested or confined to their houses after elections were announced. Many had called on people to boycott the polls.
India-administered Kashmir will vote in five phases, with results due on Dec. 23. Modi will on Monday address an election rally in Srinagar, a day ahead of the third phase of polling.