Jammu: Twelve people, including an Army officer, were killed on Thursday when militants mounted an audacious attack on a police station in Jammu region and commandeered a truck which they drove into an Army camp where soldiers took them on. The brazen attack took place ahead of September 29 meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in New York on the sidelines of the UN general assembly meet. At least 12 people, including four policemen and an six army personnel, when terrorists first attacked a police station in Hiranagar town of Kathua district and later stormed an Army camp in adjoining Samba district on Thursday morning.
According to a Defence Ministry spokesperson, three armymen, including Colonel Vikramjeet Singh, were killed and three others, including the Commanding Officer of 16 Cavalry, were injured. According to latest information, firing from militants' side has stopped, but security forces are still holding cordon of the officers' mess area where they have been holed in. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned twin terror attacks and alleged that they were carried out to derail the peace process between India and Pakistan. "It would be a grave injustice to those killed if peace talks between India and Pakistan are suspended," said Omar.
Sources said that the terrorists, who were in Army uniform, first came to Hiranagar police station and before anybody could understand anything, they suddenly opened fire with AK rifles leaving little chance for the cops to react. Thereafter, they fled towards Kathua-Jammu national highway and boarded a truck on way to adjoining Samba district. As they entered Samba, the terrorists boarded off the truck near a Kendriya Vidyalya at Maheshwar - an Army cantonment area - and stormed into an Army camp resulting into a fierce gunbattle between two sides. Six armymen were reported to have been killed, sources said, adding that the encounter was in progress. The truck driver, in whose vehicle terrorists had travelled from Hiranagar to Samba, was also among the killed.
