Kashmir's day of terror sees 21 killed, Modi condemns 'desperate' violence

Srinagar It was a day of terror in Kashmir as 21 people including eight army men were killed and at least 10 injured Friday in a string of brazen militant strikes days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis rally here for the staggered assembly electionsHeavily armed militants attacked an army camp and a police checkpost besides hurling a grenade at a posse of security personnel at three places A smoke grenade also went off at a fourth placeModi is to address an election rally in Srinagar Monday The state is in the midst of the fivephase assembly elections with the next phase scheduled for Dec 9 The polls began Nov 25 and end Dec 20 with the vote count to be held Dec 23The initial two rounds of balloting in the violenceridden state have seen heavy voter turnout which has been described as a victory for democracy and the peoples answer to militants bullets The terrorists have struck four days ahead of the third round of votingModi condemned the attacks as desperate attempts to sabotage the polls Attacks in Jammu and Kashmir are condemnable They are desperate attempts to derail the atmosphere of hope and goodwill as seen by increased voter turnout he tweetedHome Minister Rajnath Singh slammed Pakistan for the serial terror attacks and demanded that it should stop these incidentsThe home minister told TV reporters in New Delhi that Pakistan gives shelter to terrorists and its result is violence in the Kashmir ValleyPakistan gives shelter to terrorists it should answer for that he said If Pakistan cant stop these incidents they should speak to India about itChief Minister Omar Abdullah said the terror attacks Friday once again show the desperate levels militants will go to to disrupt peace and normalcyHe described it as a terrible day and said in a tweet Four attacks and a number of deaths security forces amp innocent civilians killed in the valley todayEight army men including a senior officer and three policemen were killed Friday battling a group of heavily armed militants who mounted an audacious attack on the army camp in Baramulla district All the six rebels were killedLtCol Sankalp Kumar and a junior commissioned officer were among the soldiers killed in the predawn terror attack at the armys Field Ordnance Camp located at Mohra near the border town of UriThe group of militants sneaked close to the army camp and struck at 3 am but they met with stiff resistance at the camps main gateThe sentries on duty heard the gunshots and challenged the rebels who were armed with automatic weapons and hand grenadesA senior police officer told IANS eight soldiers and three policemen were killed in the attack The gun battle was now overThere are differing accounts of whether the militants managed to enter the army camp An officer said that they did enter but the attack was repulsed while another said the gunfight was confined to the main gate of the campQuick Response Teams QRTs were rushed to the site after the militants attacked the camp The militants opened fire at one of the QRT vehicles on the main road killing an officer and two soldiers the officer saidEven as the gun battle was dying down in Uri a report came in of a terror attack on a police checkpost in Srinagar FridayThe separatist guerrillas attacked the police checkpost in Soura area about 10 km from Srinagar city centre Lal ChowkA senior police officer told IANS that in the gunfight that followed two militants were killed One militant was killed immediately and the other who tried to hide in a house in the area also was killed in the ensuing gunfightThe third terror attack took place in south Kashmirs Tral town 45 km from here where two persons were killed and 10 others were injured when a grenade hurled by militants explodedMilitants lobbed a grenade towards a posse of security forces in Tral town today Friday afternoon The grenade exploded on the road injuring 12 civilians of whom two died a senior police officer told IANS hereThe report of the fourth terror attack was sketchy It was not clear whether a grenade attack took place at a police station in Shopian with the police maintaining that only a smoke grenade went off