12 killed as militants storm Indian police station in Kashmir; Singh remains committed to peace talks

Eurasia News

SRINAGAR: At least 12 persons including policemen were killed when a group of militants wearing army uniform stormed a police station in Indian administered Kashmir near the border with Pakistan on Thursday, Dispatch News Desk reported.

Indian Police said that the militants lobbed grenades and opened fire at the Hiranagar police station, around 200 kilometres from the main city of Srinagar.

The attackers escaped after hijacking a truck and carried out another attack on Mesar army camp on Delhi-Jammu national highway in the Samba district of Indian administered Kashmir, Inspector General of Police for the Jammu range Rajesh Kumar said, adding that a fierce gun battle was held between militants and Indian troops inside the camp.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the attack by militants on an Indian police station and army camp in Indian occupied Kashmir as barbaric and said it would not derail efforts to pursue peace through dialogue.

“This is one more in a series of provocations and barbaric actions by the enemies of peace,” Singh said in a statement.

“Such attacks will not deter us and will not succeed in derailing our efforts to find a resolution to all problems through a process of dialogue.”

It is pertinent to mention that a meeting is confirmed between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.