Alwaght- The death toll from an attack by suspected separatists against an army base in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir climbed to 10, police said, as a siege at the compound stretched into a second day.
A firefight erupted Saturday (Feb 10) when an unknown number of heavily-armed militants stormed the base in Jammu, the second-largest city in the disputed Himalayan region bordering Pakistan.
Authorities initially said four people were killed in the brazen pre-dawn strike, but updated the death toll as elite Indian commandos flanked by armored vehicles searched the sprawling compound.
"Five soldiers, one civilian and four terrorists have been killed so far," police chief Shesh Paul Vaid told journalists.
Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat has also rushed to Jammu to monitor the situation.
Officials said an unknown number of attackers are cornered inside the residential complex of the camp, where they are locked in a fierce standoff.
Hundreds of police, army and paramilitary soldiers were called in to dislodge the fighters, who have barricaded themselves inside buildings.
The vast army installation located in the city of Jammu is located close to several shopping centers and schools. It is still unclear whether any gunmen remain on the compound.
The attackers are suspected to be separatists who have launched similar raids in recent years against the army and paramilitary installations across the region.
Jammu is the main city in the southern part of the disputed state, claimed by both India and Pakistan in full. The two nuclear-armed rivals control parts of the Muslim-majority Himalayan region.
Cross-border firing in violation of a 2003 ceasefire agreement has gone up in the past months leading to causalities, with more than a dozen people killed on the Indian side since the beginning of this year.
Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. India maintains roughly 500,000 soldiers in the territory.
The conflict in Indian-controlled Kashmir is basically a struggle for self-determination with residents of the region demanding a plebiscite while India rejects the call.
