1 soldier, 3 suspected militants killed in Indian Kashmir base camp attack

Published October 3, 2017
The camp used to be a notorious interrogation centre where suspected militants would be detained, allegedly tortured.  — File
The camp used to be a notorious interrogation centre where suspected militants would be detained, allegedly tortured. — File

Suspected militants stormed a paramilitary base in Indian-administered Kashmir early Tuesday, police said, leaving one soldier and three attackers dead.

Three paramilitary troopers and a police officer were also injured as the trio of attackers hurled grenades and fired automatic weapons at the Border Security Force (BSF) base next to Srinagar airport before dawn, director general of police S. P. Vaid said.

“All the three militants have been killed. An assistant sub-inspector of BSF also died in the initial assault,” Vaid told AFP.

Flight operations resumed at the high-security airport after being suspended briefly, with at least one in-bound flight from New Delhi cancelled, authorities said.

The base in which the gun battle took place shares a common compound wall with the airport.

The camp houses a battalion of India's Border Security Force and only barbed wire separates it from the Srinagar airport, which is controlled and run by the Indian Air Force.

The camp has previously been a notorious interrogation centre where suspected militants and their sympathisers would be detained, questioned and allegedly tortured.

Residents in the neighbourhood said they heard dozens of blasts and intermittent gunfire was still ongoing.

Besides being a highly guarded security zone because of the location of the strategic airport, many top former bureaucrats, police officials and politicians have residences in the area.

Reinforcements of counterinsurgency police and paramilitary commandos rushed to the scene and armored vehicles dotted the entire road leading to the airport.

No anti-India rebel group immediately commented on the fighting.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir's mostly Muslim population and most people support the rebels' cause. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.

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