Srinagar (AP/UNB) — Suspected rebels using guns and grenades sneaked into a crucial army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir early Sunday and killed at least 17 soldiers in the deadliest attack on a military base in the disputed Himalayan region in recent years, the army said.Four rebels were killed as the soldiers returned gunfire to the attackers in the surprise assault before dawn on the army camp in Uri town close to the highly militarized line of control dividing the disputed Himalayan region between India and Pakistan
Through the initial hours of the gunbattle, loud explosions were heard and several barracks on the base caught fire. Afterward military helicopters hovered over the base as the army conducted what they described as “mopping up” operations.
Several wounded soldiers have been airlifted to the army’s main hospital in Srinagar, the region’s main city. It wasn’t immediately clear if the four dead rebels were the only attackers.
Uri, west of Srinagar, houses the Indian army’s brigade headquarters in the region along the de facto border.
Kashmir has seen its largest anti-India protests in recent years since the killing July 8 of a popular rebel commander by Indian troops. A sweeping military crackdown and near-constant curfew have followed.
Protesters throwing rocks have clashed with troops firing live ammunition and shotgun pellets, and more than 80 people have been killed.
The Muslim-majority region is divided between India and Pakistan but most people in the Indian portion favor independence or a merger with Pakistan.
