Army soldiers search for suspected militants after a gunbattle in Mohra in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri (Reuters photo)
11 security personnel and one civilian were killed in a series of attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday as militants stepped up violence in the middle of elections in the state.
Two of the attacks took place in Uri and Tral in Kashmir, where voting will take place on Tuesday in third phase of staggered polling that ends this month.
Eight soldiers, including an officer, and three policemen, were killed this morning when militants sneaked into an army artillery camp in Kashmir's Uri, a largely peaceful garrison town around 100 km northwest of Srinagar. Six militants were also killed.
The militants cut through a wire fence around the small artillery camp and then fired rocket-propelled grenades at the security men in their bunkers, an army officer said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the attack "once again shows the desperate levels militants will go to disrupt peace and normalcy".
Several hours later, a gun battle broke out in Srinagar, the state capital where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due next week on a campaign tour for the polls.
In the third attack, militants threw a grenade at a bus stand in Tral in South Kashmir, killing one civilian. 12 others were injured.
Separatists have called for a boycott of the election and militants have stepped up attacks after a lull of months, but voters have turned out in record numbers on the two days of polling held so far, braving freezing temperatures and long lines.
Today's attacks were seen as a message to people who have largely ignored calls to boycott the polls.
The result will be announced on December 23.
Led by an expansive campaign by the Prime Minister, the BJP is making its most serious bid yet to win power for the first time in the state, banking on votes in the Hindu-majority Jammu and Buddhist Ladakh areas. It is also capitalising on the rise of independents and splits elsewhere in Muslim-majority Kashmir.