Army today instituted an inquiry into one of the bloodiest attacks in years on its camp at Uri as preliminary investigations suggested the terrorists had entered the area at least a day before mounting the brazen assault.

Official sources said the inquiry, to be completed in a time bound manner, will suggest measures to prevent such attacks in future as Pakistani-based groups were indulging more in "shallow infiltration".

According to sources, shallow infiltration means when terrorists cross the Line of Control and target the first available army camp or security establishment.

The suspicion about JeM terrorists having entered the LoC a day before arose from the fact that they had beards which were not a day old as fidayeen (suicide) squads are clean shaven generally, the source said.

They said the inquiry will look into all possible lapses that could have led to the attack and ascertain whether it could have been prevented.

It will also suggest preventive measures needed to be employed, including realignment of forces around army installations near the LoC.

The toll in the attack has risen to 18 with one more armyman succumbing to injuries.
Heavily armed suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed militants from Pakistan had yesterday stormed the army base killing 17 personnel and wounding 20.

India had reacted strongly to the deadliest attack on the Army in Jammu and Kashmir in quarter-century-old insurgency that sparked an outrage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemning it.

"We strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Uri. I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished," Modi had said.