Militants ambushed a military convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday, killing two soldiers and wounding four.
The attack was reported after Pakistan fired mortar shells and machine guns at forward posts and villages in Poonch district, wounding a woman, an army officer said.
The army dismissed a Pakistani statement that it killed five Indian soldiers in response to “unprovoked ceasefire violation by India” along the Line of Control, the de-facto border between the two countries in Jammu and Kashmir.
In New Delhi, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said the NDA government is working for a “permanent solution” to resolve the Kashmir issue.
He didn’t divulge details, but said the problem is seven decades old. “I have said this with utmost responsibility, after much thinking and deliberations. We have some plans and … will find a solid solution. It may take some time.”
The minister’s comments came on a day army chief General Bipin Rawat visited positions along the LoC in north Kashmir and exhorted soldiers in the Valley to maintain utmost vigil. He is in the restive state to review the region’s internal and external security.
The highway ambush is the third this year, underscoring an upsurge in militant activities in the restive state and the vulnerability of security forces travelling in soft-shelled vehicles on the critical road. In a previous attack, three soldiers were killed in Shopian.
{{/usCountry}}The highway ambush is the third this year, underscoring an upsurge in militant activities in the restive state and the vulnerability of security forces travelling in soft-shelled vehicles on the critical road. In a previous attack, three soldiers were killed in Shopian.
{{/usCountry}}The 300-km strategic highway was closed for traffic after Saturday’s attack on the convoy near a toll post, 100km from Srinagar. The wounded were taken to the 92 Base Hospital of the army, where two soldiers died.
(With inputs from HTC New Delhi and agencies)