Terrorists launch attack on Indian Army camp in Kashmir

SRINAGAR , India, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Militants killed an Indian soldier in an attack in Kashmir, the Indian Defense Ministry said Monday.

A statement by the military, identifying the suspected attackers as "terrorists," said an army camp at Baramulla, in India-controlled Kashmir, was struck Sunday with grenades and automatic weapons. One soldier died of his wounds and another was injured. The army evacuated 10,000 residents from the area.

In nearby Poonch district, along the Line of Control separating Indian- and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the two countries exchanged gunfire at Indian guard posts in Shapur, Krishnagati and Mandi and Sazian sectors Monday. Indian Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Manish Mehta said Pakistani forces used mortar shells, automatic weapons and small arms, and that Indian troops returned fire. Each alleged assault was a violation of a ceasefire agreement, India said. There have been 10 violations of the agreement since Sept. 18, when 19 Indian soldiers were killed in an attack on an army base. India responded to that attack with what it called surgical strikes of its own on Sept. 28 and 29.

The Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, in northern India and eastern Pakistan, has been disputed territory since 1946. Each country claims a part of it, and two wars, in 1947 and in 1965, have been fought over it; another war, in 1999, was averted.

Analysts believe current tensions between the two countries over the area are the worst in a decade, CNN reported.