Eight killed in militant attack in Indian Kashmir
Indian police stand guard near the site of an attack in Srinagar on September 23, 2013 (AFP, Tauseef Mustafa)Police say suspected separatist rebels stormed into a police station in the Indian portion of Kashmir and shot and killed at least five police officers.
Police say the attackers stormed a police station in the town of Hiranagar on Thursday. Witnesses say the attackers sprayed the station with bullets before hijacking a truck to make their escape.
"We can confirm that five policemen and three civilians have been killed in the attack," the officer told AFP news agency.
The attackers then escaped after hijacking a truck and were now engaged in a fierce gun battle with Indian troops in Samba district of the region near the border with Pakistan, the NDTV news network and other local media reported.
Five security men have been injured in the ongoing gun battle at an army base, a senior police official said, with TV footage showing wounded soldiers being dragged away to safety.
"Four soldiers and a sentry have received injuries in the attack on army camp. We are trying to ascertain more details," police Director General Ashok Prasad told AFP.
Hiranagar is some 200 kilometers south of Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir.
In May, four soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected militants in the Pulwama district.
In March, two armed militants disguised as cricket players attacked a paramilitary camp and killed five troops.
The militants were killed in retaliatory fire. Two people were arrested in connection with the attack.
India has a large security presence in Kashmir with tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces deployed in the region.
India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in its entirety. Rebel groups have been fighting Indian rule in the area since 1989.
Source: Agencies
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