Uri attack aims at creating 'war-like' situation: Mehbooba

The Uri terror strike is aimed at triggering fresh violence in Jammu and Kashmir and creating a "war-like" situation in the region, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said today while strongly condemning the attack on the Army in which 17 jawans were killed.

"I strongly condemn the attack which seems to be aimed at triggering fresh violence and creating a war-like situation in the region," Mehbooba said in a statement here. The Chief Minister said the heightened tension in the wake of the Uri attack is set to further vitiate the atmosphere in and around Jammu and Kashmir amid growing strains in Indo-Pak ties.

"Unfortunately, people in Jammu and Kashmir, who are already mired in an agonising situation, shall have to bear the maximum brunt of the fresh attempts being made to step up violence and trigger fresh bloodshed in the state," she said.

She said Jammu and Kashmir has always been the worst victim of Indo-Pak hostility and its people have been paying a colossal price for the same for the past over six decades. Mehbooba said the perpetrators of violence must understand that such methods have yielded nothing in the past nor would they yield anything in future except adding to the miseries of the people.

The Chief Minister while expressing anguish over the attack, paid rich tributes to the slain soldiers. She extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and also prayed for early recovery of those injured in the attack.

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah also condemned the attack. "Terrible news from Uri, 17 soldiers killed & many injured. May their souls rest in peace. Prayers for their families as also for the injured," Omar wrote on Twitter.

Heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the Army in North Kashmir's Uri town in the wee hours today, killing 17 jawans and injuring 19 other personnel in the terror strike in which four ultras were neutralised.