Posted on 05/13/2002 8:41:19 PM PDT by grimalkin
JAMMU: At least seven people were killed when a group of militants opened indiscriminate firing on a bus coming from Himachal and also stormed into a nearby Army camp at Kaluchak, about 10 km from here this morning, official sources said.
The attack, suspected to be carried out by a suicide squad, took place between 5.30 am and 6.00 am on Jammu-Pathankot highway, they said.
Sources said the casualty figure is likely to go up. Most of those injured have been shifted to the Jammu Medical College hospital. The encounter is still going on and the entire area has been cordoned off. Traffic on Jammu-Pathnakot highway has been disrupted due to the incident.
The sources said three to four militants fired from automatic weapons on the bus coming from Himachal to Jammu. Later, the fidayeen entered the nearby army camp of the field regiment and fired indiscriminately. The troops retaliated. Explosions were also heard inside the camp when the last reports came in.
Police, along with commandos rushed to the site and were assisting the troops in tracking down those holed inside the camp.
At least seven people are reported killed after Muslim militants fired on a bus near Jammu, in Indian-administered Kashmir, and attacked a nearby Indian army camp.
The attack coincided with the visit to Delhi of US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca which is aimed at cooling tensions between India and Pakistan.
"Seven bodies have been brought out so far. The encounter is still on," a police official told Reuters news agency.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) said a group of three or four militants had fired on a bus and then stormed the army camp at Kaluchak, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from Jammu.
The report said explosions could be heard from inside the camp and police and commandos were helping to track down the militants it described as a "suicide squad".
The bus had been travelling from the northern state of Himachal Pradesh to Jammu, the report said.
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