SRINAGAR: The death toll from a militant attack on an army base in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir climbed to 10, police said, as a siege at the compound stretched into a second day.
A firefight erupted Saturday when an unknown number of heavily-armed militants stormed the base in Jammu, the second-largest city in the disputed Himalayan region bordering Pakistan.
Authorities initially said four people were killed in the brazen pre-dawn strike, but updated the death toll as elite Indian commandos flanked by armored vehicles searched the sprawling compound.
“Five soldiers, one civilian and four terrorists have been killed so far,” police chief Shesh Paul Vaid told AFP.
Nine others, including women and children, were injured in the attack that the Indian army blamed on Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).
Local broadcasters showed tanks rolling into the Sunjawan army camp late Saturday and a helicopter hovering overhead as the attack unfolded.
Police said the assault began around 4:55 a.m. on Saturday (2325 GMT Friday) when guards came under a hail of bullets near the base’s boundary wall.
The intruders took positions inside a residential complex meant for soldiers’ families as the army launched a counter-offensive to drive them out.
It is still unclear whether any gunmen remain on the compound.
Hindu-majority Jammu, located in the foothills of the mountainous region, is relatively peaceful but has repeatedly seen militant assaults on military bases close to the frontier with Pakistan.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the territory in full and have fought two wars over the region.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died in an armed insurgency that erupted in 1989 by militants demanding that Kashmir be granted independence or merged with Pakistan.
Saturday’s attack comes 18 years after a similar militant attack on the base in 2003 that killed 12 soldiers.
Seven soldiers were killed in an attack in Jammu after suspected Pakistani militants in police uniforms stormed a major army base in November 2016.
New Delhi accuses Islamabad of sending armed militants, including JeM, across the border to attack the roughly half a million soldiers stationed in the Indian-administered part of the divided territory, a charge denied by Pakistan.
In late 2016, India said its soldiers destroyed militant bases inside Pakistan-administered Kashmir after 19 soldiers were killed in an assault on an army base.
Ten killed in attack on Indian army camp in Kashmir
Ten killed in attack on Indian army camp in Kashmir
South Korea police raid spy agency over drone flights into North
SEOUL: Investigators raided South Korea’s spy agency on Tuesday as they probed possible government links to a drone shot down over North Korea earlier this year.
Pyongyang accused Seoul of flying a drone into Kaesong in January, releasing images that purported to show debris from the downed aircraft.
Seoul initially denied the government was involved, with President Lee Jae Myung saying it would be akin to “firing a shot into the North.”
But authorities said on Tuesday they were investigating three active-duty soldiers and one spy agency employee.
Investigators from a joint military-police task force raided 18 locations of interest, including the Defense Intelligence Command and the National Intelligence Service.
“The task force said it will thoroughly establish the truth behind the drone incident through analysis of seized materials and a rigorous investigation of the suspects,” a statement read.
Three civilians have already been charged for their alleged role in the drone scandal.
One of them has publicly claimed responsibility, saying he acted to detect radiation levels from North Korea’s Pyongsan uranium processing facility.
Disgraced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol is currently standing trial on charges he illegally sent drones into North Korea to help create the pretext for declaring martial law in late 2024.
His attempt to overturn civilian rule failed, and Yoon was impeached and ousted from office in April last year.
Provocation and propoganda
Prosecutors have accused Yoon of instructing Seoul’s military to fly drones over Pyongyang and distribute anti-North leaflets in an attempt to provoke a response.
They said Yoon and others “conspired to create conditions that would allow the declaration of emergency martial law.”
North Korea said last year it had proven that the South flew drones to drop propaganda leaflets over its capital.
Lee said in December that he felt an apology was due to North Korea over his predecessor’s alleged order to send drones.
“I feel I should apologize, but I hesitate to say it out loud,” he said at the time.
“I worry that if I do, it could be used as fodder for ideological battles or accusations of being pro-North,” he added.
Lee has taken steps to ease tensions since taking office, including removing propaganda loudspeakers along the border.
Pyongyang unveiled new attack drones in August 2024, with experts saying the capability may be attributable to the country’s budding alliance with Moscow.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un at the time ordered the “mass production” of attack drones, with analysts saying they may be designed to carry explosives and deliberately crash into enemy targets.
North Korea has previously sent trash-filled balloons over the South in what it called retaliation for activists in the South floating anti-regime propaganda missives northwards.
