Kashmir unrest: Gun battle at Indian army camp leaves two dead

Incident took place a day after Narendra Modi addressed a campaign rally.

SRINAGAR:

An army official and two unidentified attackers were killed in a gun battle in the Kathua district of Indian Kashmir on Friday morning. Two army officials and a civilian were also injured in the attack.

At least three gunmen wearing Indian army uniforms stopped a sports utility vehicle in the Dayalchak area, about 340 kilometers south of Srinagar, before they forced out four passengers and shot at them. One passenger was killed and three others were injured, a senior police official Shakeel Beig said.

The men then hijacked the vehicle and drove south where they attacked an army camp in the Kalibari area, about 20km away, where security forces engaged in a three-hour gun battle with them.

The area was cordoned off and two army helicopters carried out surveillance on a shed in the camp where the attackers took shelter.

The attackers reportedly carried grenades and were equipped with other heavy ammunition; police officials and paramilitary forces sought to avoid the attackers’ escape into the nearby civilian area.

Railway and road traffic was suspended during the attack and restored at roughly 4.25 pm. No other details were released. It was not clear who was behind the attack or why.

Friday morning’s incident took place a day after the main opposition BJP leader and prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi visited Kathua - a garrison town bordering Pakistan - and addressed a campaign rally ahead of next month’s general election.

At least 10 people were killed in a similar attack last year when gunmen wearing Indian army uniforms attacked a police station in Kathua district and an army base in neighbouring Samba district. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.