“Despicable Attack” In Uri Will Not Go Unpunished: PM

Seventeen soldiers have been killed in an attack on the Indian Army’s battalion headquarters in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. Reacting to the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that those responsible for the attack will not go unpunished.

Terror struck an Army camp in North Kashmir’s Uri town when militants stormed a battalion headquarters in the wee hours today. Four militants involved in the attack have also been killed. All terrorists were foreign nationals and initial reports suggest that they were from the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, director general for military operations said in a media briefing.

Intense firing was reported at the Army camp which is located barely a few metres away from the Army’s Brigade Headquarters in Uri town, 102 kms from here, official sources said. Helicopters from the Army’s 19 divisional headquarters in Baramulla were pressed into service, the sources said.

The attack comes two years after militants had carried out a similar type of attack at Mohra in the same area. Ten security personnel were killed in the attack that took place on December 5, 2014.

It is believed that the attack was the handiwork of a freshly infiltrated group of militants who could have entered along the Salamabad Nallah into the town.

The entire area has been sealed off.

The Home Minister has postponed his scheduled visit to Russia and the United States in the wake of the attack in Uri and the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

Singh also spoke to the Jammu and Kashmir Governor and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on the situation arising out of the terror strike in Uri.

The Home Minister was scheduled to leave for Russia tonight for a four-day bilateral visit and later to the US on September 26 for a six-day tour to attend the Indo-US Homeland Security Dialogue.

“Keeping the situation of Jammu and Kashmir in mind and in the wake of terror attack in Uri, I have postponed my visits to Russia and the US,” he said in a statement here.

The Home Minister said he has spoken to Governor N N Vohra and the Chief Minister and discussed with them the situation arising out of attack on a Army Brigade Headquarters in Uri and both of them apprised him of the overall situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

“I have given instructions to Home Secretary (Rajiv Mehrishi) and other officers in the Home Ministry to closely monitor the situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

The Home Minister also called an emergency meeting to review the situation arising out of the attack on the Brigade Headquarters in Uri.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the Union Home Secretary, top Army, paramilitary and Home Ministry officials are attending it.

The Prime Minister condemned the attack through social networking site Twitter and said that those responsible for the attack will not go unpunished.

President Pranab Mukherjee also condemned the “outrageous” terrorist attack and said India would thwart the “evil designs” of terrorists and their backers.

Reactions From Jammu & Kashmir

The Uri terror strike is aimed at triggering fresh violence in Jammu and Kashmir and creating a “war-like” situation in the region, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said while strongly condemning the attack on the Army in which 17 jawans were killed.

“I strongly condemn the attack which seems to be aimed at triggering fresh violence and creating a war-like situation in the region,” Mehbooba said in a statement.

The Chief Minister said the heightened tension in the wake of the Uri attack is set to further vitiate the atmosphere in and around Jammu and Kashmir amid growing strains in Indo-Pak ties.

“Unfortunately, people in Jammu and Kashmir, who are already mired in an agonising situation, shall have to bear the maximum brunt of the fresh attempts being made to step up violence and trigger fresh bloodshed in the state,” she said. She said Jammu and Kashmir has always been the worst victim of Indo-Pak hostility and its people have been paying a colossal price for the same for the past over six decades.

Mehbooba said the perpetrators of violence must understand that such methods have yielded nothing in the past nor would they yield anything in future except adding to the miseries of the people.The Chief Minister while expressing anguish over the attack, paid rich tributes to the slain soldiers.She extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and also prayed for early recovery of those injured in the attack.

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah also condemned the attack.