Uri, Pathankot, Pampore: 35 soldiers killed, over 1,740 injured in attacks on Indian Army in 2016

Termed as the deadliest attack on the Indian Army since the Kaluchak tragedy in 2002 , the attack at a battalion headquarters of the Army in north Kashmir’s Uri town on Sunday killed 17 jawans and injured 19 other personnel. According to recent reports by _ANI_ , another sepoy K Vikas Janardhan succumbed to his injuries at the R&R Hospital in New Delhi on Monday taking the death toll to 18. The Indian Army has lost many of its valiant soldiers since the start of the year. These recent spate of attacks have claimed lives of at least 35 soldiers. Uri, however, will still be remembered as one of the deadliest. Here are some of the major attacks on the Army in 2016: [caption id=“attachment_3011120” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] An Indian army soldier during the Uri attack. PTI[/caption] Pathankot airbase attack Heavily-armed terrorists carried out a pre-dawn strike at the Air Force base in Punjab’s Pathankot, triggering a fierce gunbattle. Around six terrorists in army attire tried to storm the base located at 35 kms from the international border. The terrorists were linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) as is the case with the Uri attack. Seven soldiers died, including Lt Col Niranjan, who is a member of NSG’s bomb disposal squad. He died while sanitising a terrorist’s body during the attack. One commando of the Indian Air Force’s special Garud unit and two Defence Security Corps personnel also died during the attack. Pampore attack At least eight CRPF personnel were killed and 24 injured after Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists opened fire at a convoy belonging to the paramilitary force in Pampore on the outskirts of Srinagar near Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. The attack happened on the busy Srinagar-Jammu national highway when the security personnel were returning from a training exercise. However, three more soldiers succumbed to their injuries. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the ambush in Pampore on the CRPF personnel. “Would like to express my condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones in today’s dastardly militant attack,” news agency ANI reported Mufti saying. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to the eight martyred CRPF personnel on Twitter saying that he was “pained by their demise.” Kashmir unrest As many as 81 people, including two soldiers, were killed in the unrest that broke out a day after Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Burhan Wani was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir on 8 July. Union Minister Rajnath Singh told the Parliament during the monsoon session that 1,700 civilians were injured in the violence. However, he also reminded the House that 1,740 jawans too were injured. While foiling an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Naugam sector of Kashmir’s Kupwara district, two soldiers were killed in July, 2016. Pakistan also resorted to unprovoked firing in Poonch district of Jammu in August, 2016. A policemen lost his life while three soldiers were injured. As of 19 September, normal life remained disrupted in the Valley for the 73rd straight day as a curfew was clamped in Pulwama and Baramulla districts of Kashmir. With inputs from agencies.