Srinagar/New Delhi: Terrorists from Pakistan killed six policemen, four soldiers and two civilians in an audacious attack Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir. Resisting BJP’s calls, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he will go ahead with peace talks with Pakistan in New York.
Three days before Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif were to meet, heavily armed men first barged into a police station in Jammu region, killing eight people, and then drove off with a truck to attack an army base where they killed an officer and three soldiers.
It was one of the worst terror attacks in recent times in Jammu and Kashmir. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the terrorists involved in the attack had sneaked into the state from Pakistan in the last 12 hours. He also hoped that the mayhem would not derail the India-Pakistan talks.
Three militants reached the Hira Nagar police station in Kathua district, located seven km from the Pakistan border, and attacked it with grenades and automatic weapons.
In no time, eight people lay dead: six policemen, a shopkeeper and the driver of a truck parked in the complex. Four others were hit, suffering critical splinter and bullet injuries.
The guerrillas escaped in the truck, drove on the Pathankot-Jammu highway and opened fire at Samba town.
Military sources said the militants then entered an army unit around 35 km from Jammu, killing Lt. Col. Bikramjeet Singh and three soldiers. Some soldiers were wounded.
In response, the military flew in commandos by helicopters to the attack site.
In Washington, Manmohan Singh said that “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”.
Conveying his condolences to the families of those killed, he said: “This is one more in a series of provocations and barbaric actions by the enemies of peace.”
In an obvious reference to Pakistan, he said: “We are firmly resolved to combat and defeat the terrorist menace that continues to receive encouragement and reinforcement from across the border.”
In Srinagar, Omar Abdullah said “it would be great injustice” if the India-Pakistan dialogue process got stalled following the terror attack in Jammu region.
He blamed the attack on “forces inimical to peace between India and Pakistan” and said it was aimed at derailing the Sep 29 meeting between Manmohan Singh and Sharif in New York.
He said it would be difficult to speculate if the attack had the backing of the new government in Pakistan.
BJP asks PM to call off talks with Sharif
BJP demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should call off his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York on Sunday in the wake of twin terror strikes in Jammu region.
Condemning the attacks, party President Rajnath Singh said Pakistan is continuing with its strategy to strike at will through proxy war of terror. “The PM is in a hurry to start dialogue with Pakistan. There should be no talks with Pakistan unless there is a conducive environment,” Singh said on a Twitter post.
“I strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the police and security forces in Jammu. The terrorists have attacked India almost at will,” he added. The BJP has opposed the talks between the two prime ministers.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the Prime Minister had himself assured the nation through both Houses of Parliament after Mumbai attack and after beheading of two soldiers that India will not hold talks with Pakistan till it takes minimal action against terror. “But what are we seeing today that Pakistan land is being used to attack and conduct terror attacks in India,” he said.
“We condemn the twin dastardly attacks. This shows that Pakistan continues on its strategy to strike at will through this proxy war of terror,” he said.
Another BJP leader Yashwant Sinha maintained that the Prime Minister should not hold talks at all with Sharif.
Condemning the attack, senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu told reporters in Hyderabad, “the proposed meeting of Manmohan Singhji with his counterpart in Pakistan during his US visit is totally against the mood of the nation. People are angry and feeling let down by the decision taken by the Indian government and Prime Minister”.
Naidu said, “Pakistan should walk the talk of its promise that it will not allow its land to be used for any terror activity against India. This has to be made very clear”. (Agencies)