Washington, DC – The United States in a statement issued hours after the attack on Indian Army Brigade Headquarters in Uri strongly condemned it, extending condolences to the victims and their families.
A statement issued by the State Department read, “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir during the early morning of September 18. We extend our condolences to the victims and their families,” stressing, “The United States is committed to our strong partnership with the Indian government to combat terrorism.”
Earlier reports from India noted militants had attacked an army base in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing at least 17 soldiers while all four of the attackers were killed. Carrying guns and grenades they stormed a base in Uri, close to the Line of Control with Pakistan in a pre-dawn ambush.
Indian Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh reacted by calling Pakistan a “terrorist state”.
The deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades came as violent protests against Indian rule in the disputed region continued, with a strict curfew imposed.
Indian minister Singh said on Twitter that “there are definite and conclusive indications that the perpetrators of Uri attack were highly trained, heavily armed and specially equipped.” “I am deeply disappointed with Pakistan’s continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups,” he said.
BBC cited UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson as condemning the attack and said the UK “stands shoulder to shoulder with India in the fight against terrorism, and in bringing the perpetrators to justice.”
A militant attack on an army camp in Uri in December 2014 saw at least nine members of the security forces killed. The last attack of this scale on the Indian army was in June 2015 in Manipur, north-east India, when at least 20 soldiers were killed in an attack on a troop convoy.
With the Indian Home Ministry talking about a “cross-border terror attack”, there is no doubt the raid will make the already fraught relations between India and Pakistan even frostier.