Jawans at Nagarota. (Photo : Indian Army)
The Indian Army received another black eye -- the worst since the infamous Uri attack on Sept. 18 -- when three Muslim Kashmiri terrorists broke into an army base in Nagarota town in Jammu and Kashmir and killed seven soldiers in a brazen early morning attack on Nov. 29.
It was the second worst loss of life in a single action inflicted by Muslims on the army since the Uri attack by four Muslim militants that killed 19 jawans.
The army said the Muslim terrorists infiltrated the based disguised as police officers. Once inside the gates of the base at Nagrota some two miles from the army's regional headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir, the militants stormed the officer's dining hall while throwing grenades, killing four Indian soldiers.
The militants then took hostage 16 soldiers, women and children before being all killed in a subsequent gun battle. An Indian officer and two jawans were also killed in this firefight. Total army dead included two officers and five soldiers.
Analysts believe this latest in a string of attacks is unlikely to provoke the type "surgical strikes" conducted by India after the Uri assault. They believe, however, that India must respond in kind or risk more humiliation.
Nov. 29, incidentally, was the day General Qamar Javed Bajwa became the 16th Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army succeeding General Raheel Sharif who retired from service the previous day.
In his farewell speech, Gen. Sharif warned India it "should know that mistaking our policy of patience for weakness would be dangerous."
The Indian Army's Northern Command said it recovered the bodies of three terrorists. Operations are underway to ensure no terrorists are lurking in the vicinity of the base.
Indian media said the Nagarota attack on is the latest major attack in an escalating string of attacks by Muslim terrorists from the other side of the Line of Control allegedly either abetted or directly supported by the Pakistan Army.
