Militants in Kashmir have killed 17 Indian soldiers in an early morning raid on an army camp near the disputed border with Pakistan.
The assault at around 5.30am on Sunday is among the deadliest single attack on military forces in the history of the troubled region.
Four “fidayeen” – highly-trained militants who storm security installations on what are essentially suicide missions – were killed, according to the Indian army.
Security has been heavy and tensions high in Kashmir after more than two months of clashes between protesters and police that have left more than 80 civilians dead and thousands injured.
In a statement, the Indian army attributed the high casualties on Sunday morning to a fire that broke out during the attack and consumed temporary shelters and tents in the brigade headquarters.
#WATCH #Firstvisuals: Terrorist attack at army's Brigade HQs in Uri (J&K). Encounter underway. (visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/CG8ur8Rkor
— ANI (@ANI_news) September 18, 2016
More than a dozen soldiers are understood to be injured, some of them critically.
The militants are thought to have recently crossed over the nearby “line of control” with Pakistan.
An emergency meeting of senior ministers and security officials is being held in Delhi and alerts have been issued for airports across the country.
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, said he condemned the “cowardly” attack. “I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished,” he said on Twitter.
“We salute all those martyred in Uri. Their service to the nation will always be remembered. My thoughts are with the bereaved families.”
The Indian defence minister, Manohar Parrikar, and army chief Dalbir Singh are making their way to Srinigar, the region’s summer capital.
India accuses Pakistan of supporting militant attacks in its northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule only in part.
Prime minister Narendra Modi recently raised the stakes in their decades-old feud by expressing support for separatists within Pakistan.
Pakistan denies any role in cross-border terrorism, and has called on the United Nations and the international community to investigate atrocities it alleges have been committed by the security forces in Indian-ruled Kashmir.
Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan prime minister, has pledged to “emphatically highlight” violence in Kashmir in a speech during this week’s UN general assembly meeting.
Earlier this year militants also stormed an air base at Pathankot, in the northern Indian state of Punjab, leading to a freeze in relations between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan denies any role in cross-border terrorism, and has called on the United Nations and the international community to investigate atrocities it alleges have been committed by the security forces in Indian-ruled Kashmir.
Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have been on edge since a January attack on an Indian air force base in Punjab, near the border with Pakistan, that killed seven uniformed men.
India has blamed a Pakistan-based militant group for that attack but, after initial progress, an attempt to conduct a joint investigation lost momentum.
The two sides have frozen a tentative peace dialogue.
