DHAKA: At least 17 soldiers were killed in a terror attack at an army administrative base in India-ruled Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri near the Line of Control Sunday morning, the worst in recent years.

All four terrorists have been killed, reports NDTV.

The attackers were killed in a six-hour gun battle at the base, which is around 100 km from state capital Srinagar.

Army sources say the base is being searched. The injured have been airlifted to an Army hospital in Srinagar.

The attackers, said to be fidayeen or a suicide squad, sneaked into the base around 4 am and entered the administrative area, officials said.

Visuals showed smoke rising from the camp, which is on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway. Some army barracks reportedly caught fire and loud explosions were also heard.

India home minister Rajnath Singh has called an emergency meeting in the afternoon.

In tweets, the home minister said he has postponed a visit to Russia and the US that was to have started September 18.

“Spoke to governor and chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir regarding the terror attack in Uri. They have apprised me of the security situation in the state,” Singh tweeted.

Uri, a town west of Srinagar, houses the army’s brigade headquarters in the region along the Line of Control.

In January this year, six terrorists who had infiltrated into India through the border, entered the high security Pathankot airbase in Punjab and opened fire.

In an operation that lasted nearly three days, seven military personnel were killed.

BDST: 1155 HRS, SEP 18, 2016
RR