Uri attack attempt by militants to derail elections: Parrikar

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said the deadly attack on an army camp in Uri town was an attempt by militants to derail the electoral process.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said the deadly attack on an army camp in Uri town was an attempt by militants to derail the electoral process.

Parrikar, who was on his first visit to the strife-torn Valley, reviewed the security situation and said there is possibility of more attacks like the one in Uri till the elections are over.

"Election turn-out was very high; the attack was an attempt by militants to mar the elections. But we managed a good percentage even after that," he said. Parrikar said people of the Valley are coming out to vote in large numbers "saying they want to be part of India".

Parrikar said the army is prepared to deal with any attack and added that soldiers combated the militants in Uri and Arnia sector of Jammu in a professional manner.

"The army suffered casualties only in the beginning of the operation as they were caught by surprise. The fact that no civilian was allowed to be touched was the army's biggest success," the defence minister said.

"The fact is that if they (militants) had moved 200 meters sideways they could have inflicted pain on civilians.''

Without resorting to Pakistan-bashing, Parrikar said the country has to take counter measures to tackle the issue of militant attacks.

Parrikar who said his visit was mainly to know about the working conditions of the soldiers also went to the headquarters of the army's 15 Corps at Badamibagh in Srinagar to pay homage to eight soldiers, including a Lt Colonel, who were killed in the Uri attack.

Parrikar was briefed by senior army officers about the situation in the Valley and along the Line of Control. He was informed about the counter-infiltration grid in place along the LoC as well as in the hinterland.