Terrorists in Kashmir were like Special Forces: Army

The Indian Army Sunday said the terrorists who killed eight soldiers and three policemen in Kashmir Friday were trained like Special Forces and were prepared to wage a long battle.

"These terrorists were highly trained like Special Forces to carry out the attacks," Lt. Gen. Subrata Saha, General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, told the media here.

There was enough evidence to indicate that the attackers were from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, he said.

"The kind of ammunition they had shows they were in for a big haul. Six AK-47 rifles, magazines and 1,415 rounds were recovered along with food items, suggesting they wanted to stay for a long battle," Gen. Saha said.

The terrorists crossed the Jhelum river in Uri as the water level was low there to carry out the deadliest attacks of the day in Uri sector in Baramulla district, he said.

The Uri attack began before dawn when a suicide squad struck at an army camp killing eight soldiers and three policemen who tried to intervene. All six terrorists were killed hours later after a gun battle.

The same day, terrorists also carried out attacks at three other places, leaving a total of 21 people dead including those killed in Uri.

"The type of infiltration and attacks ... proves these attacks were highly coordinated," the general said.

"All the incidents leading to the attacks, including the ceasefire violations, could not have happened without coordination from across (the border)," Gen. Saha said, alluding to Pakistan.

At least 100 terrorists have been killed so far this year compared to 89 last year in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

The terrorists must have infiltrated the border Dec 3-4, hid in the forests and struck Dec 5 in a planned manner, he said.

Without directly referring to the assembly polls or Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Srinagar, he said the terror attacks took place "because of the larger events taking place in Jammu and Kashmir".