Srinagar: Militants attacked an army convoy in south Kashmir's Pulwana district yesterday, killing three soldiers, a defence spokesman said, in the latest in an uptick of violence in the region at the heart of tensions with rival Pakistan.
According to security officials, militants fired incessantly at the vehicles carrying army men near the Kadlabal area of Pampore.
"Motorcycle-borne militants ambushed an army convoy. There have been casualties but details are being ascertained," K Rajendra Kumar, police chief of the Kashmir region said.
The militants then fled from the spot, but a massive search operation was underway. It was the second attack in Pampore this year.
Last month, militants stormed an army base near Jammu, killing seven soldiers.
"A bad year in terms of security force casualties just got worse," Omar Abdullah, the leader of the main opposition group in Jammu and Kashmir, said in a Twitter post following the latest attack.
Army convoys have been attacked several times along the stretch of the highway that connects Srinagar and Jammu and is used to carry supplies to the Srinagar-based 15 Corps that acts as nerve centre to battle militancy in the valley.
Thousands of vehicles including army convoys pass daily through the crucial 300km Jammu-Srinagar highway — the only road link to the Himalayan valley.
The attack comes just days after two militants were killed on in separate encounters with security forces in Anantnag and Baramulla districts.
This year, after years of decline, militant violence has increased in Kashmir, deepening a chill in ties with Pakistan whom India blames for stoking and keeping the revolt alive by sending fighters and materiel across the de factor border.
Pakistan denies the allegation and says New Delhi must agree to talks to resolve the future of Kashmir.
Soldiers have launched a search operation to hunt the militants behind the attack, the defence spokesman said.
