Kashmir attackers kill four

Soldiers comb through Lasipora for the Frontline Lashkare Taiba

By Mukhtar Ahmad
Special to CNN

SRINAGAR, Kashmir -- Four Indian soldiers including an officer were killed late Friday night after a two-member attack squad stormed an army base before escaping.

A senior police officer told CNN that seven army soldiers of Rashtriya Rifles(RR) engaged in counter insurgency operations in north Kashmir were wounded seriously in the attack.

He said militants fired a rocket on the guard room of an Indian army camp in Lasipora, a village in the northern Kupwara district, 110 kms from the Kashmir capital of Srinagar, killing a sentry.

The two attackers then stormed inside the camp, the officer said on condition of anonymity.

They later hurled grenades and fired heavily from assault rifles, killing one officer and two soldiers.

Seven army men who received serious injuries in the attack were shifted to hospital, sources said, adding that four were in critical condition.

Troops immediately took positions inside the camp and fired back.

The two militants managed their escape from the camp under the cover of darkness, the sources said.

Responsibility claimed

Frontline Lashkare Taiba phoned newspapers in Srinagar to claim responsibility for the attack.

Senior officers along with reinforcements rushed to Lasipora immediately and the area around the camp was cordoned off. Searches were mounted and continued Saturday morning.

The attack follows the killing of three prominent activists of the ruling state’s ruling National Conference(NC) by gunmen on Friday.

Police said an official of the ruling NC was gunned down by Moslem militants in the town of Pampore while two other activists were shot dead in the Beerwa area of Central Budgam district.

The State chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah reviewed the overall situation with top police and civil officials in the Kashmir capital.

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