At least three militants wearing army fatigues lobbed grenades and opened fire early Thursday at the Hiranagar police station near the border with Pakistan, around 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the main Kashmiri city of Srinagar, police said. [break]
They then hijacked a truck and drove to a nearby army base in Samba district in the southernmost part of the state where a fierce gunbattle with soldiers took place and Indian tanks were deployed, eyewitnesses and security sources said.
The attacks are set to overshadow a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this weekend, the first top-level dialogue in three years.
"This attack in Jammu is aimed at derailing the dialogue process," said Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state.
Separately, army spokesman Colonel Brijesh Pandey told AFP that Indian forces were battling four groups of militants in the mountainous north of the state where he said 12 people were thought to have been killed.
Premier Singh condemned "the heinous terrorist attack" on the police station and army base in a statement, but pledged that it "will not deter us" as he seeks to resolve problems with Pakistan through dialogue.
Militant attacks have a history of stalling stop-start peace efforts by the two neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence. India accuses Pakistan of abetting the groups which strike Indian targets.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said four militants crossed the border on Thursday morning to carry out the attacks on the police and army bases.
"As per preliminary information, the four terrorists came from across the border," the minister told reporters in New Delhi, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.
The leaders of several Pakistan-based groups warned last month of an "unprecedented" surge in activity in India as battle-hardened fighters transfer their attention from Afghanistan to the Himalayan region.
A witness to Thursday´s attack said three men targeted the police station before hijacking a truck and driving in the direction of the army base.
"The cleaner of the truck was standing there. They asked him where the driver was. They then killed the cleaner and asked the driver to drive them off," said the man, who did not give his name.
At the army camp gunshots were heard from inside the walled compound. Two officers were seen running out carrying an injured man over their shoulder.
"I was inside the dhaba (a roadside eatery) when I saw three men entering the camp firing a barrage of bullets. They opened the gates and entered," a man told television reporters in Samba.
At least five policemen and two civilians were killed in the first attack on the police station, a police officer told AFP, and at least two soldiers including an officer died in the second assault, an army source said.
Local English-language newspaper The Kashmir Monitor said it had received a call by satellite phone from a previously unknown militant group called Shouhda Brigade ("Martyrs Brigade") which claimed responsibility.
The group said three Kashmiri militants were involved and they had killed 15 people. None of these claims could be independently verified by AFP.
Indian premier Singh confirmed on Wednesday that he would meet his Pakistani counterpart despite calls from the opposition to take a hard line with Islamabad.
Formal peace talks known as the Composite Dialogue are currently off and India has played down any expectations they might restart as a result of Sunday´s talks.
Kashmir, a picturesque Himalayan territory, is divided between India and Pakistan by a de facto border known as the Line of Control but it is claimed in full by both countries.
More than a dozen armed rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 for the region´s independence or its merger with Pakistan.
Attacks in Indian Kashmir are at their lowest in 20 years, but the region remains tense with many Kashmiris chafing under tight security.
Tens of thousands of people have died in the fighting by an official count while local rights groups estimate up to 70,000 have lost their lives.
Thursday´s attack comes after heavily-armed militants killed eight soldiers and two policemen in the region in June, in the deadliest such incident in five years.
Violence in the region has its roots in the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, when the Hindu leader of Kashmir opted for his mostly Muslim subjects to join secular India instead of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Talking to the Post on the phone, she said she is not a Maoist supporter anymore. She added that she could not resign as suggested by Dahal.
Appointed by the Baburam Bhattarai-led government on May 9, 2012, Sharma hit the headlines for her controversial remarks and character.
On June 24, the Qatari Foreign Affairs Ministry sought clarification from her over her reported remarks that ´Qatar is an open jail´. She clarified her remarks and apologised.
Following a formal letter from the Qatari Ambassador to Nepal to Foreign Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire on Wednesday asking the latter to recall Sharma--saying that her controversial activities and remarks may affect bilateral ties, the government sought agreement from the Maoists on the matter. In response, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal called up Sharma on Friday, suggesting that she cooperate with the government´s move.
Sharma, however, refused to resign . In her interview with the Doha-based English newspaper, she said that she was responsible to the government rather than any party. “I was appointed by the Nepal government. So I am responsible to it. The government has not sent any letter to me asking to quit,” she said.
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