The Foreign Office on Wednesday strongly dismissed the allegations levelled by Indian Home Secretary RK Singh earlier in the day that Pakistan was behind the killing of five Indian paramilitary police in Srinagar.
Beside the five Indian paramilitary police, two militants were killed in an ambush on the Indian security forces in the main city of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK).
“Five Indian CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) men were killed in the suicide attack on a group of about 25 men who were on duty,” confirmed a police officer, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to talk to the media.
FO spokesman Muazzam Khan also rejected the statement made by Indian Defence Minister AK Antony in the Rajya Sabha accusing the Special Services Group of the Pakistan Army of beheading two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control on January 8.
“We feel that this trend of making irresponsible statements and knee-jerk reactions by senior Indian government functionaries have the potential of undermining the efforts made by both sides to normalize relation between the two countries,” Khan said.
He said Pakistan, which was itself a victim of terrorism and had rendered immense sacrifices in its efforts against this menace, condemned such actions of terrorism in the strongest possible terms and called upon the government of India to carry out a thorough investigation into such incidents before levelling such accusations which were counterproductive and served no purpose.
The FO spokesman said Pakistan remained committed to discussing and resolving all outstanding issues with India through a meaningful dialogue.
‘Pakistan’s handiwork’:
Earlier, Singh had said the attack in Srinagar seemed to be the handiwork of militants, who came from across the border in Pakistan.
Briefing reporters about the attack, Singh said, “The attack seems to be handiwork of militants who came from across the border in Pakistan.”
“Prima facie evidence suggests that these militants were from across the border. They were probably from Pakistan,” Singh was quoted as saying by Indian media
“We had inputs of four militants having entered; now two are dead. All our units are alert,” he added.
“The two militants who managed to escape after the attack are also said to be from Pakistan. The four are believed to from the LT. A probe into the matter has been ordered and the security forces have been asked to take all preventive measures,” he said.
According to reports, militants sneaked inside a public school and opened indiscriminate firing on civilians, including school children who were playing cricket, and the security forces.
Two militants were shot dead by the security forces in the ensuing firing. Some civilians also sustained severe injuries in the incident.
LT militant Hillal Maulavi is said to have carried out the brazen attack on the CRPF camp.