New Delhi:
At least 17 jawans were killed and 19 other personnel were martyred when heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the Army in North Kashmir’s Uri town. Four ultras were nuetralised in the attack. Explosions and gunfire erupted as the militants attacked the camp, which is located barely few metres away from the Army’s Brigade Headquarters in Uri town, 102 kms from Srinagar, around 4 AM, official sources said.
The soldiers of the Dogra Regiment were sleeping in a tent which caught fire due the explosion. The fire also engulfed the nearby barracks, the sources said. It is believed that the attack was the handiwork of a group of freshly infiltrated militants who could have entered from an area along the Salamabad Nallah, the sources said.
Expressing their severe discontentment and anguish over the terror attacks the retired Indian army generals made the following comments:
Lt Gen BS Jaswal (Retd)
"We must have our military option open, if required to strike at certain places," Lt Gen BS Jaswal (Retd) said here."Bring pickets, which have launch pad to the ground, raze them to the ground. The reason is that till the time it does not hurt Pakistan physically, they would not respect our decency," said Jaswal, who was GOC-in-C of the Northern Command.
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) said "preventing suicide attack is difficult, but damage control is always possible."
Lt Gen KJ Singh (Retd)
Lt Gen KJ Singh (Retd) who retired in July as Western Army Commander, said "No defences are fool proof", though we aim to make it so but the essence is reaction.
Brig Anil Gupta (Retd)
Brig Anil Gupta accused Pakistan of causing instability in the Valley. He said the attack was "a matter of serious concern for India and is a desperate attempt by Pakistan to ensure the current turmoil in Kashmir doesn't end.""Pakistan, despite all the criticism and the problems it's facing, is hell bent on encouraging terrorism inside Kashmir," Gupta said.
Senior defence and strategic affairs experts also expressed their criticism by making the following comments:
Uday Bhaskar
Bhaskar said that "Pressure on Modi govt to act decisively ‘now’ is visible, but must be well thought through"
Qamar Agha
Agha said that "It’s a shameful incident. Our soldiers were killed and injured in this attack. ISI is involved in this incident for sure. This is not the first attack. It’s a cowardly act. This kind of incident. The attack is pre-planned and well trained".
