Indian Military

PESHAWAR: A teen suicide bomber in a school uniform attacked soldiers during morning exercises at a Pakistani army training camp on Thursday, killing 27 troops and wounding 40 others, police and the military said.
The attack in the northwest town of Mardan showed that despite years of army operations against their hideouts along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, Taliban and al-Qaida-linked fighters retain the ability to strike back. It was one of the worst attacks on security forces in recent months.
Senior police official Abdullah Khan said 27 soldiers died and around 40 were wounded, some critically. Khan said an examination of the body parts at the scene indicated the bomber was a teenage boy, which is a common finding in suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The army, which tends to release information much slower, put the death toll in an earlier statement at 20 and confirmed the general circumstances.
Despite his apparent disguise, the bomber's ability to get his explosives into the facility undetected signalled a failure on the part of the military.

PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber in a school uniform attacked soldiers during morning exercises at a Pakistani army training camp on Thursday, killing 20 troops and wounding 20 others, police and the military said.
The attack in the northwest town of Mardan showed that despite years of army operations against their hideouts along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, Taliban and al-Qaida-linked fighters retain the ability to strike back. It was one of the worst attacks on security forces in recent months.
The army confirmed the casualties and circumstances in a statement. Police official Abdullah Khan said some wounded were in critical condition.
Despite his apparent disguise, the bomber's ability to get his explosives into the facility undetected signalled a failure on the part of the military. Such army areas are usually heavily guarded, though an attack on the same training facility in 2006 killed 35 soldiers.
Troops quickly cordoned off the area and even police had a difficult time getting through.

BEIJING: China said Monday it had not received word from New Delhi that it had suspended military exchanges, despite Indian media reports that relations had been put on hold after Beijing refused to grant a visa to a top Indian army general from a disputed territory.

An anonymous senior Indian official was quoted in the Hindu newspaper Saturday as saying that future military exchanges and a joint exercise between Indian and Chinese defense forces would remain suspended until China resolves the issue.

``China did not suspend military exchanges with India, nor did it receive any communication from India about a suspension of exchanges between the two militaries,'' China's Ministry of National Defense said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press in response to questions.

The Indian army spokesman Virendra Singh declined to comment. Indian officials routinely refuse to speak on the record to the media on what the government defines as sensitive matters, including relations with China.

JAMMU: Heavy rains hampered the operations of security forces against armed militants in an ongoing gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Monday, a day after a soldier and two terrorists were killed.

The shootout in Thanna Mandi area, about 180 km north of Jammu, began on Saturday when an Army team led by Major S K Mahapatra traced a group of militants in the forested area. In the ensuing gunfight, Mahapatra was injured and a soldier was killed on Sunday.

"Today (Monday) is the third day of the encounter. Rains started in the morning and hampered operations," a senior Army official said.

"But we are trying to keep our cordon intact to keep militants and their movements in check," the official said.

Police suspect that the militants belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The operations are taking place close to the area where terrorists fired at a convoy of the army and a civilian bus on Wednesday.

Two passengers were killed and 17 injured in the attack.