Three Indian Army soldiers were killed on Thursday after a heavily-armed group of militants attacked their camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, reported PTI. Two militants of the group were shot dead in the gunfight, though there is no official word from the military yet.
The group began to shoot at the Army’s Panzgam camp around 4 am, after which heavy exchange of fire ensued. The artillery base targeted is located close to the Line of Control with Pakistan, reported The Indian Express.
The strike is believed to have been a suicide attack, and combing operations are on to locate the other militants suspected to be in hiding, according to The Economic Times. The attack was carried out hours after Commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lieutenant General JS Sandhu said around 150 militants were waiting near the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to enter Jammu and Kashmir.
On September 18, 2016, 19 Indian soldiers were killed in a similar attack on the Army’s Uri base. India had accused Pakistan of being involved in the strike, but the neighbouring country has maintained that the allegations were “baseless”.
Separatist leader arrested
In other news from Kashmir, separatist leader Asiya Andrabi was arrested from her Srinagar home late on Wednesday. Andrabi founded the separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat and is a member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. She is married to jailed Hizbul Mujahideen leader Ashiq Hussain Faktoo.
According to reports, she was arrested after a few captured militants confessed to the police that videos of her speeches are shown at terror training camps across the LoC. She was arrested in connection with two cases in 2015 – for addressing Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed’s rally in Pakistan over a phone call and for waving Pakistani flag, according to Hindustan Times.
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