18 soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri.
Highlights
- Wire fencing around 12th Brigade headquarter at Uri had been cut
- After reaching the tents, terrorists split up into three groups
- 16 soldiers of 6 Bihar were killed in the attack, while 10 Dogra lost two
It was early morning on Sunday and some soldiers of the 6 Bihar regiment had just woken up and were making their way to washrooms next to their tents when terrorists attacked the Uri Army base, firing Ak-47s and hurling grenades one after the other.
The unarmed soldiers were cornered and many of the 18 who died in the attack, were killed there.
Investigators have found that the wire fencing around the 12th Brigade headquarter at Uri had been cut in two places and suspect that is where the four terrorists sneaked into the camp. But they are perplexed about how they walked about 150 metres into the camp without being challenged.
Four terrorists had sneaked into the Uri Army base early on Sunday morning and killed 17 soldiers in a three-hour gun-battle.
The National Investigation Agency is examining whether the perimeter of the camp was lit, as is standard operating procedure so close to the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
After reaching the tents, where the 6 Bihar advance party of about 40 soldiers was housed, the terrorists split up into three groups, investigators said. Two of them stayed near the tents shooting at soldiers, while the other two moved towards an officer's mess and the motor transport section.
"Soldiers, it appears were cornered, because they had stored their weapons in a makeshift armoury in a tent and were unable to reach them. Some weapons were damaged," a senior officer associated with the investigation told NDTV.
The two terrorists who had moved towards the mess and transport section were engaged by soldiers and were shot dead. The troops then surrounded the other two terrorists and killed them.
The gun battle was over in half an hour.
Army soldiers carry the coffins of their colleagues who were killed in Uri terror attack.
Investigators say there were two clear intelligence warnings about the terror strike, one specifically about a likely attack on the 12 Brigade HQ, received three days before the attack, on September 15.
The team from the Bihar regiment arrived in Uri on September 16, to take over command from the 10 Dogra regiment. Officers and jawans from both regiments were present at the base when the terrorists attacked it.
16 soldiers of 6 Bihar were killed in the attack, while 10 Dogra lost two.