Several heavily armed militants stormed an Indian army headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir starting an intense gunfight with forces on Sunday (18 September). At least 17 soldiers have been reportedly killed at the military installation, which is located near the border with Pakistan.

Four of the attackers were shot dead and security forces continued to search for their accomplices. At least 20 soldiers sustained injuries in the ambush. The wounded personnel were being airlifted to hospitals as counter-terror measures were underway.

The facility, about 70kms from state capital Srinagar, is the headquarters of 12th Army Brigade in Uri, just near the area known as Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir has been kept on high alert post the attack. Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag is heading to the attack site to deal with the situation.

The intruders, believed to be members of a "suicide squad", entered the military installation at about 4am local time (11.30pm BST on Saturday) and entered the administrative area. As soon as gunfire was heard, Indian army's special unit was airdropped at the site to tackle the militants.

Keeping the situation of Jammu and Kashmir in mind and in the wake of terror attack in Uri, I have postponed my visits to Russia and the USA — Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 18, 2016

"We suspect the presence of three terrorists and they are suspected to be on a suicide mission. Our officers are retaliating and trying to neutralise them," a military personnel was quoted as saying.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has called for a high-level emergency meeting following the attack. He has cancelled his scheduled trip to the US and Russia.

In a similar incident in January 2016, six militants had attacked the Pathankot airbase in Punjab province. The attack lasted for three days before all of the attackers were killed.</s>Image copyright AP Image caption A curfew is already being enforced in the entire Kashmir Valley

Militants have attacked an army base in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing at least 17 soldiers, the army says.

All four of the attackers were killed. Carrying guns and grenades they stormed a base in Uri, close to the Line of Control with Pakistan in a pre-dawn ambush.

Indian Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh reacted by calling Pakistan a "terrorist state".

It is the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades.

It comes as violent protests against Indian rule in the disputed region continue, with a strict curfew imposed.

More than 80 people, nearly all anti-government protesters, have died in more than two months of violence.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and Pakistan denied any role.

"This is an old tactic of India. They immediately put the blame on Pakistan without investigation," foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria told the BBC.

Image copyright @narendramodi Image caption Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attacks on Twitter

But Mr Singh said on Twitter that "there are definite and conclusive indications that the perpetrators of Uri attack were highly trained, heavily armed and specially equipped".

"I am deeply disappointed with Pakistan's continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups," he said.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson condemned the attack and said the UK "stands shoulder to shoulder with India in the fight against terrorism, and in bringing the perpetrators to justice".

Both India and Pakistan claim all of Muslim-majority Kashmir but only control parts of it.

Indian army military operations head Lieutenant-General Ranbir Singh said there was evidence the attackers were members of an Islamist militant group in Pakistan.

The terrorists had some items which had Pakistani markings on," he said.

Kashmir profile

The militants infiltrated across the Line of Control from Pakistan before attacking the base, west of Srinagar, an army officer told the BBC.

Gunfire and explosions were heard for several hours.

Image copyright EPA Image caption An India army helicopter flies above the base after the attack

Image copyright EPA Image caption Activists from the Hindu hardline nationalist Shiv Sena group vent their anger

Image copyright AP Image caption Street demonstrations were sparked in July after a popular militant leader was killed

Many tents and temporary shelters caught fire during the attack, according to the army's Northern Command.

Twelve soldiers were killed by fires and the others died in gun battles, the Hindustan Times reports, citing army sources.

Disputed Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than 60 years, causing two wars between the neighbours.

A militant attack on an army camp in Uri in December 2014 saw at least nine members of the security forces killed.

The last attack of this scale on the Indian army was in June 2015 in Manipur, north-east India, when at least 20 soldiers were killed in an attack on a troop convoy.

Dangerous impasse - Justin Rowlatt, South Asia correspondent

With the Indian Home Ministry talking about a "cross-border terror attack", there is no doubt the raid will make the already fraught relations between India and Pakistan even frostier.

But the truth is this latest upsurge in violence has a distinctly home-grown flavour.

The huge wave of protests against Indian rule that were prompted by the killing of a popular young militant on 8 July have been overwhelmingly by people from Indian-controlled areas of Kashmir.

The attack is likely to mean normal life in the province will continue to be paralysed by the curfew imposed by the security forces for some time to come.

The Indian government says it wants to discuss how to end the violence with local leaders, but so far its overtures have been rejected by separatists who insist that the issue of Kashmiri independence must be on the table.</s>Suspected rebels using guns and grenades sneaked into a crucial army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir early Sunday and killed at least 17 soldiers in the deadliest attack on a military base in the disputed Himalayan region in recent years, the army said.

Four rebels were killed as the soldiers returned gunfire after the surprise assault before dawn on the base, located near the highly militarized Line of Control dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Loud explosions were heard and several barracks caught fire in the initial hours of the attack. Afterward, military helicopters hovered over the base as the army conducted what it described as "mopping up" operations.

Officials said at least 30 soldiers were wounded in the attack, including about a dozen who were in critical condition.

The casualties were high because a large number of soldiers were turning over the base to new units and were stationed in tents and temporary shelters that caught fire in the attack, the army said in a statement. The base, located in the town of Uri, west of the region's main city of Srinagar, houses the Indian army's regional brigade headquarters along the de facto border separating Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

Soldiers were conducting searches in the area, but army officials said it appeared that they had killed all four rebels involved in the attack.

Army officials said the rebels had infiltrated into the Indian side of Kashmir from the Pakistani-controlled part.

Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, the army's director general of military operations, said that all four gunmen killed were "foreign terrorists," and that initial investigations suggested that they belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group that has been active in Kashmir for more than 15 years.

India blames the outlawed group, which is based in Pakistan, for a series of attacks in the Himalayan region and Indian cities, including the attack on India's Parliament in 2001 that brought nuclear rivals India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Singh said the gunmen were carrying "some items that had Pakistani markings." He said he had spoken to his Pakistani counterpart and conveyed India's "serious concerns."

The army officials said the rebels entered the sprawling camp after crossing a stream and breaching the fencing Saturday night.

What made Sunday's attack different from earlier attacks in the region was that instead of storming into the camp, the rebels quietly entered the base and later launched their attack, said a senior army officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack and tweeted, "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished."

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh called an emergency meeting of top defense officials and blamed Pakistan for the attack. "I am deeply disappointed with Pakistan's continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups," he tweeted.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but is claimed by both in its entirety. Most people in the Indian-controlled portion favor independence or a merger with Pakistan. A militant uprising and subsequent army crackdown since 1989 have killed more than 68,000 people.

India accuses Pakistan of training the militants in its territory then helping them to infiltrate into the Indian side. Islamabad denies the charge, saying it only gives political and diplomatic support to the rebels.

The attack came with Kashmir in the midst of its largest anti-India protests against Indian rule in recent years, sparked by the July 8 killing of a popular rebel commander by Indian troops. A sweeping military crackdown and near-constant curfew have been in effect since the protests began.

Rock-throwing protesters have clashed with troops firing live ammunition and shotgun pellets, and more than 80 people have been killed in the violence.

Amid the protests, India's military has had to halt its operations against militants because Kashmiri civilians have hurled rocks at the troops trying to go after the rebels in neighborhoods. However, several suspected militants have been killed along the de facto border.

The last major attack on an Indian military installation was in January, when six gunmen entered an air force base in the town of Pathankot in the state of Punjab. The rebels managed to paralyze the massive base for nearly four days, killing seven soldiers. That base also is close to India's border with Pakistan.</s>SRINAGAR, India -- Suspected rebels using guns and grenades sneaked into an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir early Sunday and killed at least 17 soldiers in the deadliest attack on a military base in the disputed Himalayan region in recent years, the army said.

Four rebels were killed as the soldiers returned gunfire after the pre-dawn attack on the base, near the highly militarized Line of Control dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Loud explosions were heard and several barracks caught fire in the initial hours of the attack. Afterward, military helicopters hovered over the base as the army conducted what it described as "mopping up" operations.

Officials said at least 30 soldiers were wounded, including about a dozen who were in critical condition.

At the time of the attack, the army base in the heavily forested garrison town of Uri had a large number of troops because soldiers were handing over duties to a new battalion, the Indian army said in a statement.

The base houses the Indian army's regional brigade headquarters along the de facto border separating Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

Soldiers were conducting searches in the area, but army officials said it appeared that they had killed all four rebels involved in the attack. Army officials said the rebels had entered into the Indian side of Kashmir from the Pakistani-controlled part.

S.P. Vaid, a senior police officer in Kashmir, said a "state of high alert" has been declared in the state after the attack.

Vaid described Uri as "an active infiltration route for militants."

Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, the army's director general of military operations, said that all four gunmen killed were "foreign terrorists" and that initial investigations suggested that they belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group that has been active in Kashmir for more than 15 years.

India blames the outlawed group, which is based in Pakistan, for a series of attacks in the Himalayan region and Indian cities, including the attack on India's Parliament in 2001 that brought nuclear rivals India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Singh said the gunmen were carrying "some items that had Pakistani markings." He said he had spoken to his Pakistani counterpart and conveyed India's "serious concerns."

The army officials said the rebels entered the sprawling camp after crossing a stream and breaching the fencing Saturday night.

What made Sunday's attack different from earlier attacks in the region was that instead of storming into the camp, the rebels quietly entered the base and later began their attack, said a senior army officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

"I woke up early to the sound of gunfire. We could not go back to sleep after that," said Irfan Wadoo, a 28-year-old student in Uri who lives close to the army base. "The rattle of gunshots lasted for over four hours."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack and tweeted, "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished."

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh called an emergency meeting of top defense officials and blamed Pakistan for the attack.

"I am deeply disappointed with Pakistan's continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups," he tweeted.

Pakistan's army said in a statement that the allegations were "unfounded and premature," reiterating Islamabad's stance that no infiltration is allowed from Pakistani soil.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but is claimed by both in its entirety. Most people in the Indian-controlled portion favor independence or a merger with Pakistan. A militant uprising and subsequent army crackdown since 1989 have killed more than 68,000 people.

India accuses Pakistan of training the militants in its territory, then helping them to infiltrate the Indian side. Islamabad denies the charge, saying it only gives political and diplomatic support to the rebels.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States "strongly" condemns the attack. "The United States is committed to our strong partnership with the Indian government to combat terrorism," he said in a statement.

The attack came with Kashmir in the midst of its largest protests against Indian rule in recent years, sparked by the July 8 killing of a popular rebel commander by Indian troops. A sweeping military crackdown and near-constant curfew have been in effect since the protests began.

Rock-throwing protesters have clashed with troops firing live ammunition and shotgun pellets, and more than 80 people have been killed in the violence.

Amid the protests, India's military has had to halt its operations against militants because Kashmiri civilians have hurled rocks at the troops trying to go after the rebels in neighborhoods. However, several suspected militants have been killed along the de facto border.

The last major attack on an Indian military installation was in January, when six gunmen entered an air force base in the town of Pathankot in the state of Punjab. The rebels managed to paralyze the base for nearly four days, killing seven soldiers. That base also is close to India's border with Pakistan.

Information for this article was contributed by Asif Shahzad of The Associated Press and by Rama Lakshmi of The Washington Post.</s>Suspected rebels using guns and grenades sneaked into a crucial army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir early Sunday and killed at least 17 soldiers in the deadliest attack on a military base in the disputed Himalayan region in recent years, the army said.

Four rebels were killed as the soldiers returned gunfire after the surprise assault before dawn on the base close to the highly militarized Line of Control dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Loud explosions were heard and several barracks caught fire in the initial hours of the attack. Afterward, military helicopters hovered over the base as the army conducted what it described as "mopping up" operations.

The casualties were high because a large number of soldiers were turning over the base to new units and were stationed in tents and temporary shelters that caught fire in the attack, the army said in a statement. The base, located in the town of Uri, west of Indian-controlled Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, houses the Indian army's brigade headquarters in the region along the de facto border.

Soldiers were conducting searches in the area, but army officials said it appeared that no more than four rebels were involved in the attack.

Army officials said the rebels had infiltrated into the Indian side of Kashmir from the Pakistani-controlled part.

The officials said the rebels entered the sprawling camp after crossing a stream and breaching the fencing Saturday night.

What made Sunday's attack different from other attacks in the region was that instead of storming into the camp, the rebels quietly entered the base and later launched their attack, said a senior army officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Officials said at least 30 soldiers were wounded in the attack, including about a dozen who were in critical condition.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack and tweeted, "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished."

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh called an emergency meeting of top defense officials and blamed Pakistan for the attack. "I am deeply disappointed with Pakistan's continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups," he tweeted.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but is claimed by both in its entirety. Most people in the Indian-controlled portion favor independence or a merger with Pakistan. A militant uprising and subsequent army crackdown since 1989 have killed more than 68,000 people.

India accuses Pakistan of training the militants in its territory then helping them to infiltrate into the Indian side. Islamabad denies the charge, saying it only gives political and diplomatic support to the rebels.

The attack came with Kashmir in middle of the largest anti-India protests against Indian rule in recent years since the July 8 killing of a popular rebel commander by Indian troops. A sweeping military crackdown and near-constant curfew have followed.

Protesters throwing rocks have clashed with troops firing live ammunition and shotgun pellets, and more than 80 people have been killed.

The last major attack on an Indian military installation was in January, when six gunmen entered an air force base in the town of Pathankot in the state of Punjab. The rebels managed to paralyze the massive base for nearly four days, killing seven soldiers. That base also is close to India's border with Pakistan.</s>In the deadliest attack against Indian forces in more than a decade, militants sneaked into an army encampment in the disputed territory of Kashmir early Sunday and opened fire on sleeping soldiers, killing at least 17 and wounding dozens.

The four assailants, who also threw grenades that caused tents and temporary shelters to catch fire at the army brigade headquarters at Uri, were killed in a gun battle with security forces that lasted six hours, authorities said.

Indian officials blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed for the attack, saying it had recovered weapons from the assailants that carried Pakistani markings. Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, the director of military operations, said he contacted his Pakistani counterpart to convey “serious concerns.”

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh was more pointed, saying on Twitter: “Pakistan is a terrorist state, and it should be identified and isolated as such.”

Pakistan denied involvement in the attack, which came amid escalating violence in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.

Since Indian security forces killed Burhan Wani, a young Kashmiri militant, on July 8, the Himalayan territory — which both countries claim in its entirety — has erupted in protests. More than 80 civilians have been killed in clashes with Indian forces and hundreds more have been grievously wounded with pellet guns.

Ahead of this week’s United Nations General Assembly meeting, the countries have traded accusations, with Pakistan criticizing India for using excessive force in the majority-Muslim territory. The U.N. human rights chief last week requested permission to visit Kashmir to probe the allegations, but India denied the request.

India has stepped up allegations that Pakistan supports terrorism, and it vowed on Sunday to respond to the attack.

“We strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Uri,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. “I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished.”

The attack on Sunday appeared to have been well-timed. The brigade headquarters was in the middle of an operational handover, with one infantry battalion moving in as another was about to leave.

The troops “were stationed in tents/temporary shelters which caught fire, and resulted in heavy casualties,” the Indian army said in a statement.

Injured soldiers were transported about 25 miles away to Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-ruled Kashmir. At least 14 of the wounded had suffered serious burns, officials said.

Indian security experts said the timing and planning of the attack suggested complicity or at least support from elements of the Pakistani security establishment, including the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, the military spy agency. The agency is believed to support anti-India militant groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, a charge the spy agency denies.

“Reconnaissance of the target would have been inevitable, and use of unarmed [drones] for the purpose is most likely,” Rahul Bhonsle, a retired Indian general and security analyst, wrote in a commentary. “Alternately there could be information supplied from informers in the general area of Uri as well.

“Thus complicity of the Pakistan Army and the ISI is apparent.”

Kanwal Sibal, a former Indian foreign secretary, said it was unclear how India would respond. Some analysts said New Delhi was wary of launching an aggressive operation with world leaders gathering for the U.N. meeting and civilians still protesting in the Kashmir valley.

“The fact is there cannot be such a potent attack by terrorists causing so many casualties unless there is a huge amount of training and guidance and support,” Sibal said. “And our position is a little more difficult this time because of the uprising in the valley.”

India and Pakistan — nuclear-armed rivals that have fought three wars over Kashmir since 1947 — have seen relations plummet to their lowest point in years. Just last Christmas, Modi visited Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at his home in Pakistan in what was seen as a confidence-building move ahead of negotiations between the country’s top diplomats.

Those hopes were shattered days later, following a raid by militants against a high-security Indian air base in Pathankot, in Punjab state, in which seven soldiers were killed. Indian officials blamed Jaish-e-Mohammed, but Pakistan said it found no evidence the group was involved.

Since then, six minor cross-border attacks have occurred inside India, showing serious lapses in Indian security, said Sibal.

“This camp is in a very exposed area, a vulnerable area,” he said. “And that this has happened is inexcusable.”

Special correspondent Parth M.N. reported from Mumbai and staff writer Bengali from Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

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Friday isn't just for prayers in Iran. For car enthusiasts, it's also race day</s>Gunmen hurling grenades killed 17 soldiers in a raid on an army base in Indian Kashmir Sunday, with India blaming Pakistan-based militants for the worst such attack in the disputed region for over a decade.

The militants broke into the base near the de facto border with Pakistan before dawn and lobbed grenades at tents and barracks housing soldiers, before opening fire with automatic weapons, the army said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to punish those behind the "cowardly" and "despicable" hours-long attack near the town of Uri that also left four militants dead and scores of soldiers injured.

"We strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Uri. I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished," Modi said in a series of tweets.

No one has so far claimed responsibility, but Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he was disappointed with "Pakistan's continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups".

"Pakistan is a terrorist state and it should be identified and isolated as such," Singh said on Twitter, adding that the militants "were highly trained, heavily armed and specially equipped".

The raid was likely to further sour ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours given the high death toll and heightened tensions in the Indian-administered region following weeks of deadly clashes between residents and security forces.

India regularly accuses its arch-rival Pakistan of arming and sending rebels across the heavily militarised border that divides Kashmir between the two countries, to launch attacks on its forces. Islamabad denies the claims.

Sunday's attack was one of the bloodiest on soldiers since an armed rebellion against Indian rule erupted in 1989. Militants killed 30 soldiers and their families in a suicide attack in Kaluchak in the Himalayan region in 2002.

Most of the soldiers died Sunday after their tents and other housing caught fire during the raid on the brigade headquarters near the border known as the Line of Control (LoC), said Ranbir Singh, the army's director-general of military operations.

Lieutenant-General Singh blamed Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, saying he had already expressed "serious concerns" to his Pakistani counterpart.

"The killed terrorists, they were all foreign terrorists and as per the initial reports, they belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammad," Singh told a briefing.

India blamed the same group for an audacious attack in January on an Indian air force base in the northern state of Punjab that left seven soldiers dead.

The Muslim-majority region is currently in the grip of deadly civilian unrest that has lasted for more than two months. Protesting residents are clashing almost daily with security forces in the worst crowd violence since 2010.

At least 87 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in the protests against Indian rule, sparked by the killing of a popular rebel leader in a gunbattle with soldiers on July 8.

The government has been coming under growing pressure over the level of casualties and over the security forces' use of shotguns loaded with pellets which can blind demonstrators.

Thousands of angry demonstrators defied a curfew on Saturday in Kashmir to attend the funeral of a schoolboy whose body was found riddled with pellets, sparking fresh clashes.

The Indian government accuses Pakistan of stoking the unrest in the region.

On Sunday residents of Uri town saw smoke billowing from the nearby base and heard continuous rounds of heavy gunfire that lasted several hours, while army helicopters circled overhead.

Twenty-eight injured soldiers were airlifted to a military hospital in the region's main city of Srinagar, four of them in critical condition, an army officer said.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two gained independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full and have fought two wars over the region.

Rebel groups which have been fighting Indian troops in Kashmir since 1989 seek either independence for the region or its merger with Pakistan.

Soldiers have been deployed in Kashmir for decades and currently number around 500,000. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting.</s>Militants killed 17 soldiers during a pre-dawn ambush on an army base in Indian-administered Kashmir Sunday, in a major attack in the Himalayan region already reeling from weeks of deadly unrest.

The heavily armed militants snuck across the defacto border with Pakistan before launching the raid on the infantry base housing hundreds of soldiers in Uri, west of the region’s main city of Srinagar, officials said.

Four militants were killed in the attack that saw tents and other temporary shelters accommodating the soldiers catch fire, the army said in a statement.

The encounter resulted in “heavy casualties. We salute the sacrifice of 17 soldiers who were martyred in the operation,” the army said in the statement.

“In the counter action, four terrorists have been eliminated and combing operations are in progress,” the statement said.

Large numbers of soldiers are stationed at Uri after finishing their tour of duty in the volatile region, where several rebel groups have been fighting troops for decades for independence of the region or its merger with Pakistan.

Residents of nearby Uri town saw smoke billowing from the base after dawn and heard continuous rounds of heavy gunfire, while army helicopters circled the base overhead.

The region has been in the grip of deadly unrest for more than two months, with protesting residents clashing almost daily with security forces, in the worst violence since 2010.

At least 87 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in the protests against Indian rule, sparked by the killing of a popular rebel leader in a gun battle with soldiers on July 8.

Kashmir has been divided between India and its arch rival Pakistan since the two gained independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full.

Sunday’s raid comes after militants launched an audacious attack on an Indian airforce base that left seven soldiers dead in January.

India blamed that attack in the northern state of Punjab on a Pakistani-based militant group and it came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a landmark visit to Pakistan, raising hopes of improved ties.

On Sunday, the militants first attacked a frontline base close to the border known as the Line of Control or LoC before moving onto the headquarters, army spokesman Colonel S. D. Goswami said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in a series of tweets that he had spoken to the region’s military and political leaders about the attack and he cancelled planned trips to Russia and the United States.

Several rebel groups have for decades fought Indian soldiers — currently numbering around 500,000 — deployed in Kashmir. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting.</s>Rebels sneaked into an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir early Sunday and killed at least 17 soldiers in the deadliest attack on a military base in the disputed Himalayan region in recent years, the army said.

Four rebels were killed as the soldiers returned gunfire after the surprise assault before dawn on the base, near the highly militarised Line of Control dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Loud explosions were heard and several barracks caught fire in the initial hours of the attack. Afterwards, military helicopters hovered over the base as the army conducted what it described as "mopping up" operations.

Officials said at least 30 soldiers were wounded in the attack, including about a dozen who were in a critical condition.

The casualties were high because a large number of soldiers were turning over the base to new units and were stationed in tents and temporary shelters that caught fire in the attack, the army said in a statement.

The base, in the town of Uri, west of the region's main city of Srinagar, houses the Indian army's regional brigade headquarters along the de facto border separating Indian and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Soldiers were conducting searches in the area, but army officials said it appeared that they had killed all four rebels involved in the attack.

Army officials said the rebels had infiltrated into the Indian side of Kashmir from the Pakistan-controlled part.

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, the army's director general of military operations, said all four gunmen killed were "foreign terrorists" and that initial investigations suggested they belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group that has been active inKashmir for more than 15 years.

India blames the outlawed group, which is based in Pakistan, for a series of attacks in the Himalayan region and Indian cities, including the attack on India's parliament in 2001 that brought nuclear rivals India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Lt Gen Singh said the gunmen were carrying "some items that had Pakistani markings". He said he had spoken to his Pakistani counterpart and conveyed India's "serious concerns".

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack and tweeted: "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished."

Pakistan's army said in a statement that the allegations were "unfounded and premature", reiterating Islamabad's stance that no infiltration is allowed from Pakistani soil.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but is claimed by both in its entirety.</s>India accused Pakistan of being behind Sunday’s separatist attack on an army base near their disputed frontier that killed 17 soldiers, in one of the most deadly attacks in Kashmir in a quarter-century-old insurgency.Four commando-style gunmen, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades, burst into the brigade headquarters in Uri at 5:30 a.m. (midnight GMT) and were killed after a three-hour gunfight, a senior Indian army officer said.

The incident sharply increased tensions between the bitter, nuclear-armed rivals and will raise fears of a potential military escalation. Indian and Pakistani troops are in close proximity in many places along one of the world’s most heavily militarised frontiers, and exchanges of fire are not uncommon.

Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh told reporters in New Delhi that Sunday’s attack bore the hallmarks of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Evidence gathered at the scene indicated the attackers were foreign and their equipment bore Pakistani markings, he added.

“Our men are ready to give a befitting response,” Singh said in response to a reporter’s question. He did not elaborate.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned what he called the “cowardly terror attack”.

“I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished,” Modi said in a series of Twitter posts.

The raid came as tensions were already running high in India’s only Muslim-majority region, which has faced more than two months of protests following the July 8 killing of the commander of another Pakistan-based separatist group.

At least 78 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in street clashes with Indian security forces, who have been criticised by human rights groups for using excessive force.

In an even stronger response, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: “Pakistan is a terrorist state and should be identified and isolated as such.”

Pakistan rejected allegations that it was involved. “India immediately puts blame on Pakistan without doing any investigation. We reject this,” foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria told Reuters.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 over Kashmir, which is divided between them. Both claim the former princely state in full.

Most of the fatalities happened in a tent that caught fire, Singh, the Indian army’s director general of military operations, told the briefing in New Delhi.

He had informed his Pakistani counterpart of his findings, which linked the attack on Uri to a similar raid in January on an Indian Air Force base in Punjab that India also blames on Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Reuters television footage showed helicopters flying in to evacuate the injured as an operation continued to secure the area. Smoke rose from the compound, set in mountainous terrain. The Defence Ministry earlier put the number of wounded at 35.

Singh, the home minister, chaired a crisis meeting in New Delhi and cancelled trips to Russia and the United States. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the army chief of staff headed to Uri, roughly halfway between Indian Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar and Islamabad, to investigate the attack.

“There are definite and conclusive indications that the perpetrators of Uri attack were highly trained, heavily armed and specially equipped,” Singh said in a series of strongly-worded tweets that were confirmed as genuine by his office.

U.S. ambassador to India, Richard Verma, also “strongly condemned” the Uri attack, which comes weeks after Secretary of State John Kerry visited New Delhi.

After that meeting Kerry urged Pakistan to do more to combat terrorism, while also announcing the resumption of trilateral talks with India and Afghanistan this month in New York, leaving Islamabad looking isolated.

The military death toll was one of the worst it has suffered in a single incident during years of conflict in Indian-ruled Kashmir.

Before this attack, 102 people had been killed in separatist attacks in India’s part of the Himalayan region this year. Among them were 30 security personnel, 71 militants and one civilian, according to a tally by the New Delhi-based South Asia Terrorism Portal.

Modi recently raised the stakes in the neighbours’ decades-old feud by expressing support for separatists in Pakistan’s resource-rich Baluchistan province.

Pakistan has, meanwhile, called on the United Nations and the international community to investigate atrocities it alleges have been committed by Indian security forces in Kashmir.

The UN is preparing to hold its annual general assembly in New York, where Kashmir is likely to come onto the agenda amid concerns that India’s tough rhetoric could herald a military escalation between the old foes.

Senior Indian journalist and commentator Shekhar Gupta said Pakistan would be “delusional” to think that India would not respond. “This India has moved on from old strategic restraint,” he said.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been on edge since the New-Year attack on the Pathankot air force base in Punjab, near the border with Pakistan, that killed seven uniformed men.

India has blamed Pakistan-based militant groups for that and a string of other attacks - including one on Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people. After initial progress, an attempt to conduct a joint investigation into the air base attack lost momentum and a tentative peace dialogue has stalled.
Four Jaish-e-Mohammed militants attack an Indian Army base near the Pakistan border with at least 17 soldiers and four militants killed.