Five Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir ambush

India has accused Pakistan's military of involvement in the ambush at Chakkanda Bagh, which could threaten recent overtures aimed at resuming peace talks. Suryatapa Bhattacharya reports from New Delhi

Activists of the Indian right-wing Hindu organisation Shiv Sena shout anti-Pakistan slogans before burning a Pakistani flag during a protest against the death of five soldiers in Jammu.

NEW DELHI // Five Indian soldiers were killed and one was injured in an attack along India's disputed border with Pakistan in the Kashmir region, officials said.

India accused Pakistan's military of involvement in the ambush at Chakkanda Bagh, which could threaten recent overtures aimed at resuming peace talks. Previous negotiations between the two countries broke down over a similar incident in January.

"The ambush was carried out by at least 20 men dressed in Pakistan's army uniform," AK Antony, India's defence minister said in New Delhi during a parliament session.

Pakistan's military denied the charge that its soldiers had killed Indian troops. It remains unclear who carried out the attack.

India nonetheless summoned Pakistan's deputy envoy to New Delhi yesterday and lodged a protest about the violence near the Line of Control (LoC), the military boundary between the two nuclear-armed countries.

Yesterday's attack, one of the worst since a ceasefire in 2003, puts the Indian government under pressure to respond aggressively with elections due next year.

Mr Antony said that India's army was "fully ready to deploy" if needed to protect the Kashmir region.

The attack also puts pressure on Pakistan's new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who made better ties with India a theme in his election campaign in May.

While both sides have largely maintained peace across the border area, sporadic fighting along the LoC is not uncommon.

The two armies clashed in the same region in January after two Indian troops were killed and one of them decapitated. Following public outrage in India over that attack, the Indian government called off peace talks with Pakistan.

The latest killings caused an uproar in the Indian parliament yesterday as MPs accused the government of being soft.

Sonia Gandhi, the Chairman of the United Progressive Alliance, a coalition of political parties led by her Congress party, said "the nation will not be cowed down by such blatant acts of deceit".

Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir said on Twitter that violent incidents "don't help efforts to normalise or even improve relations" between the two countries.

He also sent his condolences to the families of the soldiers who were killed.

India and Pakistan have fought three major wars over the territory of Kashmir since they achieved independence from the British rule in 1947.

While the countries remain rivals, relations have improved over the past few years. Last December, in a sign that both countries were intent on improving ties, new visa rules were announced to make cross-border travel and trade easier.

* With additional reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters

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