Twelve killed in rebel attack on army camp

Two suspected Islamic militants stormed an army camp in Kashmir killing 12 soldiers before they were slain, as India’s president wrapped up a three-day visit to the strife-torn Himalayan region.

The guerrillas attacked the army brigade headquarters in Sunjwan, on the outskirts of Jammu, by scaling the wire fence early today. They then detonated hand grenades and opened fire killing 12 soldiers and wounding another seven, army spokesman Brig. B.S. Jind told reporters.

The attackers were killed in an exchange of gunfire with troops that lasted more than two hours, Jind said.

Al Nasreen, a little-known Islamic rebel group, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Abu Salem Mehmood, who said he was an Al Nasreen spokesman, telephoned the BBC office in Jammu and said his group had carried out the raid.

Elsewhere, the army killed two commanders of the rebel group Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen in pre-dawn fighting today near Beerwah, a town 15 miles southwest of Srinagar, army spokesman Lt Col Mukhtiar Singh said. There was no independent confirmation of the army claim.

Every day of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s tour – the first presidential visit to the Indian-held portion of Kashmir in five years – was marred with violence.

A government soldier and three suspected rebels were killed in a gunbattle on Thursday. Three government soldiers and seven suspected insurgents were killed in unrest on Friday.

Kalam visited the Hazratbal mosque in Srinagar today. He later travelled to Uri, 60 miles to the north, to meet soldiers near the Line of Control, which divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

The white marble shrine of Hazratbal is sacred to Kashmiri Muslims as it has housed the holy relic of Prophet Muhammad since the 17th century.

After reciting verses from the Quran, Islam’s holy book, Kalam urged the devotees to be good citizens.

“Peace in Kashmir means peace in the whole country,” he said, recalling that Prophet Muhammad had taught peace and brotherhood to his followers.

Kalam, who became the country’s ceremonial president last year, was born into a Muslim family but follows the practices of India’s Hindu majority.

More than a dozen Islamic rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. More than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed during the 13-year old insurgency.