Militants attack Indian Kashmir army camp

A gun battle between terrorists and Indian army soldiers broke out early Friday, killing Indian troops and suspected insurgents.

According to western news agencies, police officers were also killed in the ambush with reports of up to 17 dead. Police on the Indian side of the border had cordoned off the area.

Impending election

The Associated Press quoted an Indian army officer as saying that the rebels hurled grenades and fired automatic rifles while trying to get inside the camp in Uri, on the border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir. Elections for the state assembly are scheduled to take place in the area around the camp next week.

On Monday, Indian soldiers killed six militants in Kupwara, also in Kashmir. According to the Indian army, the men were trying to cross the border from Pakistan in a bid to create violence during the elections.

Separatist boycott

The polls in India-administered Kashmir are a crucial test for right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has made frequent trips to the area to garner support for his nationalist Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

Kashmiri separatists have called for a boycott of the elections, but common people have emerged in large numbers for the polls, in the hope that a new government may foster development and reduce violence.

Kashmir has been a center of crisis and conflict between India and Pakistan, both of which claim the region as their own. The two countries have fought three wars ever since Pakistan separated from India following independence from British rule in 1947.

mg/ksb (Reuters, AP, dpa)