Kathua, J&K: Militants dressed in army fatigues have killed at least 12 people in a police station and an Army cantonment in Jammu and Kashmir this morning. Over a dozen are injured and more casualties are feared. 
The police said four heavily armed terrorists first attacked a police station in Hiranagar of Kathua district in Jammu, killing four cops and two civilians. They escaped and surfaced in an Army cantonment in the adjoining Samba district, where they have reportedly killed at least six Army personnel.
A gun battle is on and army choppers are hovering over the attack site. CRPF and police personnel have now joined the Army in the attempt to flush out the fidayeen or suicide attackers.
There was reportedly much confusion and chaos at the cantonment, which houses the 16 Cavalry armoured corp unit, as the militants are dressed in Army uniform. They were not stopped at the gate and walked into an officers’ mess, where they attacked and killed unarmed Armymen.
The attackers are reportedly holed up in the mess.
The audacious attack comes only a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh confirmed that he will meet Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the US on the sidelines of a United Nations session. The two leaders are expected to meet on Sunday
Kashmir watchers say militants tend to step up attacks just before a round of talks between India and Pakistan.
The police said the militants drove up to the in Hiranagar police station in an auto rickshaw at about 6.45 this morning.
They shot the sentry at the gate, walked into the police station and shot dead three cops. They then escaped in a truck that they hijacked after killing the driver and drive along the national highway, where they eventually abandoned the truck and went to Samba in another vehicle.
Hiranagar in Kathua is about a kilometre from the border with Pakistan and a top cop said the militants could have infiltrated into India recently.
Intelligence sources said all units in the region had been alerted that a fidayeen group had entered Jammu. This is the first fidayeen attack in the Jammu region of the state in over a decade.
Courtesy:NDTV
