India accused Pakistan of being behind a separatist attack on an army base near their disputed frontier on Sunday that killed 17 soldiers, in one of the most deadly attacks in Kashmir in a 25-year-old insurgency.
Four commando-style gunmen, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenade launchers, burst into the brigade headquarters in Uri at 5:30 a.m. and were killed after a three-hour gunfight, a senior Indian army officer said.
Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh told reporters in New Delhi that Sunday’s attack bore the hallmarks of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Evidence gathered at the scene indicated the attackers were foreign and their equipment bore Pakistani markings, he added.
Pakistan denied any involvement.
Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in recent weeks has signaled a more muscular approach in his country’s rivalry with Pakistan, strongly condemned what he called the “cowardly terror attack.”
The raid came as tensions were already running high in India’s only Muslim-majority region, which has faced more than two months of protests after the July 8 killing of a commander of another Pakistan-based separatist group.
At least 78 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in street clashes with Indian security forces, who have been criticized by human rights groups for using excessive force.
In an even stronger response, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: “Pakistan is a terrorist state and should be identified and isolated as such.” Singh chaired a crisis meeting in New Delhi and canceled trips to Russia and the United States.
Pakistan rejected allegations that it was involved. “India immediately puts blame on Pakistan without doing any investigation. We reject this,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria told Reuters.
Most of the fatalities happened in army tents and temporary shelters that caught fire from incendiary ammunition used by the attackers, Singh, the Indian army’s director general of military operations, told the briefing in New Delhi.
The Pakistani army confirmed in a statement that the Indian side had established contact via a hotline. Its military operations chief “reiterated that no infiltration is allowed from Pakistani soil,” it said.
Pakistan has, meanwhile, called on the UN and the international community to investigate atrocities it alleges have been committed by Indian security forces in Kashmir.

Source: Arab News