21 killed in J&K army camp attack

Srinagar, Sep 18 (IANS) Seventeen soldiers and four militants were killed on Sunday during an attack on an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri town, defence officials said.

According to the officials, the gunfight has stopped and now search operations were on to scour the area for more possible militants.

The attack took place at around 5.30 a.m., when fidayeen (suicide) militants attacked the rear base camp of an infantry battalion in the border town.

Colonel S.D. Goswami, spokesman of the army's Udhampur headquartered Northern Command told IANS, "Four terrorists who had entered the rear base camp of the infantry battalion were killed."

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Chief of the Army Staff General Dalbir Singh Suhag are slated to arrive in Srinagar on Sunday evening, the officials added.

The attack left over two dozen soldiers injured who were airlifted to Srinagar to an army hospital.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has cancelled his five-day visit to the US and Russia. He has called for a high-level meeting later on Sunday to discuss the attack.