NEW DELHI — India's prime minister is determined not to cancel talks planned with his Pakistani counterpart this weekend despite the latest bloodshed in the disputed Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned what he called a “heinous terrorist attack” after several militants dressed in Indian army uniforms attacked police and soldiers near the border with Pakistan, killing nine people. Singh and Nawaz Sharif are expected to discuss rising violence in Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the assault was an attempt to derail the talks. A group of three gunmen attacked a police station in the morning, about 10 km (6 miles) from the border with Pakistan, killing five policemen. They then hijacked a truck and raided an army camp, security forces said. One civilian was killed. The militants killed three soldiers during hours of fighting at the camp, near the town of Samba. While helicopters hovered overhead, a Reuters witness heard sporadic explosions and gunfire as Indian forces closed in on, and eventually killed, the gunmen who were holed up in a building. “All the three militants have been killed in the Samba army camp operation. Three army men including a lieutenant colonel rank officer are dead,” said army spokesman Rajesh Kalia. A news channel quoted Home (Interior) Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde as saying the militants had entered from Pakistan. Pakistan's army and government were not immediately available for comment. “Such attacks will not deter us and will not succeed in derailing our efforts to find a resolution to all problems through a process of dialogue,” Singh said in a statement. His meeting with Sharif was expected to take place Sunday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly at headquarters in New York. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, which tracks violence in Kashmir, 128 people, including 44 security personnel, have been killed in the region this year, before the latest attack. Chief Minister Abdullah said he believes the group had entered from Pakistan within the last 24 hours. Immediately after the attack in Samba, opposition politicians in India called for the cancellation of the weekend talks, the first between the two leaders since Sharif was re-elected in May following an election campaign in which he called for better ties with India. Yashwant Sinha, a leader of the Hindu zealot Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition party, said there was no point talking to Pakistan if it was unable to prevent such attacks on India. “We are not going to achieve anything and therefore I have no hesitation in saying that the prime minister should call off the talks ... I insist he should call off the talks even at this stage,” Sinha, a former finance minister, said. — Agencies
