France strongly condemns Uri terror attack, says 'there is only bad terrorism'

Mumbai: France on Tuesday criticised the Uri terrorist attack that claimed lives of 18 soldiers, saying "there are no good terrorists or bad terrorists; there is only bad terrorism".

Speaking at a function here, French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said, "My reaction is to tell you how sorry we are, how deeply-touched we are by this attack, this awful terrorist attack. We strongly condemn this attack as we condemn any kind of terrorists attack. There are no good terrorists or bad terrorists. There is only bad terrorism."

"We are standing side by side with our Indian friends combating terrorism and pressing on states to make an end to terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism," he added.

Meanwhile, barely two days after the terror attack in Uri, army foiled two infiltration bids from across the border in Kashmir on Tuesday, killing some of the terrorists while losing a jawan.

The attempts to cross the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri and Nowgam sectors came even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions in Uri sector.

An army spokesman said in Srinagar, operations are in progress at both the places, but refused to comment on the number of terrorists killed in the ongoing operations so far. He, however, said one soldier was killed in the operation in Nowgam sector.

Army sources in Delhi, which had initially put the number of terrorists killed at 10, later clarified that the extent of casualties can be ascertained only after the retrieval of the bodies from the dense jungles.As per reports, a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC.