Pakistan rejects Kashmir attack accusations

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan on Sunday rejected Indian accusations it was involved in a brazen militant attack on an Indian military HQ in occupied Kashmir which killed 17 soldiers and injured 19 others.

Four suspected militants also died in a gunbattle at the army base in northern Uri town in Indian-held Kashmir.

“Four terrorists killed in counter-terrorist operation at Uri. 17 soldiers make the supreme sacrifice,” the Indian army’s Northern Command tweeted on Sunday morning.

Nafees Zakaria, a spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry told Anadolu Agency: "Pakistan totally rejects these baseless and misleading allegations which are aimed at diverting international attention from atrocities in occupied Kashmir."

He described the Indian allegations as not only "baseless" but "irresponsible".

"I am not suggesting anything but the timing of the attack is very significant. It has taken place days before Pakistan is going to raise Indian repression against peaceful Kashmiris in the United Nations General Assembly session," Zakaria said.

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said India's allegations against Pakistan were aimed at tarnishing the peaceful struggle of Kashmiri people against state terrorism.

"Involvement by the Indian army in this attack cannot be ruled out as well," he told reporters in comments broadcast on Dawn TV from Islamabad on Sunday.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full.

The two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.

Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in IHK have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict so far, most of them by the Indian Armed forces. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed regions.