Islamist terror strike from across the border on an Indian Army camp in Kashmir resulted in deaths of 17 soldiers. All four terrorists were killed later in a gun battle.

Terrorists have killed 17 Army soldiers and injured 19 in a suicide attack on an Army camp in Kashmir. Four terrorists struck the camp close to the headquarter of the 12th Brigade at Uri in Baramulla District . This makes it one of the deadliest terrorist strikes on security forces in recent times.
To put the death toll in perspective, seven military personnel had been killed in the Pathankot terror attack in January 2016. The attack on the Indian Air Force base there has since become a major international diplomatic incident.
The high number of casualties in the Uri terror attack could be attributed to the fact that a large number of soldiers, from the Dogra Regiment, had been stationed at the camp in tents and other temporary structures. Some of these tents caught fire during the attack, and the fire spread to other parts of the barracks. The soldiers had been stationed there as they were turning over from a tour of duty.

Credit – BBC

Four heavily armed terrorists struck the camp around 4 am. They have been neutralized by the Army, and combing operations are presently underway to sanitize the area.

It is believed that the Uri terror attack was the handiwork of a terrorists who infiltrated across the Line of Control (LoC) from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), who might have entered along the Salamabad Nallah into Uri.
The attack comes two years after terrorists carried out a similar type of attack at Mohra, in the same region. Ten security personnel were killed in the attack that took place on December 5, 2014.

Some of the equipment carried by the terrorists who attacked Uri Army camp on Sunday morning had Pakistani markings on them, said Ranbir Singh, the Director General of Military Operations. India has conveyed serious concern to Pakistan over this.
Giving details of the deadly attack that left 17 soldiers martyred , the DGMO also said that initial reports of probe into the attack suggest that all of them were foreign terrorists and belonged to terror outfit JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammad).
The terrorists who carried out the attack+ were heavily armed, the Army said.
The Army has recovered four AK 47 rifles and four under barrel grenades from the killed terrorists so far.
Assuring a befitting reply to the perpetrators of the terror attack, the DGMO said, “I assure you that the Army is prepared for any evil design by the adversary and will give a befitting response”.

Pakistan’s response:

Pakistan on Sunday refuted as “unfounded and premature” India’s charge that it was behind the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri that killed 17 soldiers, with its army demanding “actionable intelligence” to support New Delhi’s accusation.
Following the dawn attack, India blamed Pakistan for the latest attack on the Indian Army. Home Minister Rajnath Singh directly attacked Pakistan saying it was a “terrorist state” and should be isolated.
Pakistan army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa said that following the attack Director General of Military Operation (DGMO) of the two countries discussed the situation along the Line of Control through hotline.
“Refuting the unfounded and pre-mature Indian allegation, Pakistani DGMO asked his counterpart to share any actionable intelligence,” Radio Pakistan reported citing an ISPR release.
Bajwa reiterated that no infiltration was allowed from the Pakistani soil because of “water-tight arrangements” in place on both sides of LoC and the working boundary.

This tragic loss of lives has made every one sad and angry in India. Many want an immediate war or an “unofficial” attack on terror camps across the border. Such reactions can even result in all out war between two nuclear powers.

What Indians have to realise is they will never be able to annihilate all the Islamist terrorists without mutual annihilation of both countries. What India can do is to secure its border as much as possible and make Kashmiri people happy so that there won’t be much public support in Kashmir for across the border terror. Also India can use diplomatic and political pressure to reduce the help given by Pakistan army to terrorists attacking India.