Followup to yesterday's story...
Eight Indian soldiers were killed and several others including Indiaâs army commander for Held Kashmir injured in an attack on a military garrison by militants on Tuesday. Heavily armed guerrillas hurled grenades and fired wildly as they stormed the camp at Tanda at dawn some 30 km northwest of Jammu. Seven soldiers died in the raid. After the army shot dead two guerrillas after a three-hour gunbattle and believed the incident was over, a third militant emerged from behind bushes and hurled grenades at a team of top officers who were inspecting the army camp site.
| Sneaky bastard, wasn't he? |
Lieutenent General Hari Prasad who heads the armyâs key Northern Command, Lieutenent General TPS Brar, Brigadier VK Govil and two other officers received multiple injuries in the attack, defence sources told Daily Times. Gen Prasad was appointed on June 1 as General Officer Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Command, responsible for the security of Held Kashmir. A badly injured Prasad, Gen Brar and another unidentified injured major general were flown to an army hospital in Srinagar. Brigadier Govil of the 16th Corps was critically injured and died in hospital.
| Killed, not in combat, but in ambush... |
The militant also died. The third militant, who started firing and lobbed grenades at 1:15pm, was killed at 2:40pm, defence sources said. The search was on for a possible fourth accomplice. Sources said the death toll might rise as several soldiers had received serious injuries. Tanda is a major military centre and a battalion headquarters and houses many families of soldiers in a separate quarter. An Indian news agency received a handwritten statement claiming responsibility for the army camp attack on behalf of a previously unknown group, Al-Shuhda Brigade.
| Sounds like a false whiskers organization... |
âThe attack on the camp was carried out to protest visiting Pakistani opposition leader Fazlur Rehmanâs remarks that the Line of Control should be converted into a permanent border and that the Kashmir issue should be resolved within the framework of the Simla Agreement,â the statement said. âAl-Shuhda Brigade wants to make Fazlur Rehman realise that his statements would have no bearing on the jehad in Kashmir,â it said. âSome self-seeking Muslims have always damaged the cause of Islam and Fazlur Rehman is a chip of the old block. He has hurt the feelings of the Kashmiri Muslims,â the statement said.
| So it's all Fazl's fault. Damn him! |
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