Talk, says US as Hizb hits Army HQ

The troops retaliated and the gunfire rattled the whole township for over an hour, but no loss of life or damage to the property was reported, the sources said. However, a foreign agency report said the Hizbul had claimed to have killed 12 Armymen in the attack.

The grenades and rockets were aimed at the Human Resources Development building within the Army complex, they said.

Although no one was arrested during the operation, it is believed that the Hizbul Mujahideen carried out the attack to break the fortnight-long ceasefire, the sources said.

Condemning the attack, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said just for this precise reason the US wants resumption of talks between Hizbul and India as well as between New Delhi and Islamabad but "recognises that for the Kashmir dispute to be solved, there has to be renunciation of violence and respect for the line of control."

"The US regrets the reported decision of the Hizbul Mujahideen to end the ceasefire. We would urge all sides to nurture and continue the process of peace. We welcome the initiation of discussions between India and the Hizbul and we encourage their resumption," he said.

India on Tuesday regretted the withdrawal of ceasefire by the militant outfit and accused Pakistan of "derailing" the peace process by seeking to involve itself as a party in discussions between New Delhi and the militant group to settle the Kashmir issue.

"Decisions on how the talks are actually structured need to be made by the parties involved in the discussions. It has always been our belief that it is up to the parties themselves to shape the process and to clear the road to peace. We have also consistently encouraged direct discussion between India and Pakistan," the spokesman said.

When asked whether the President or Secretary of State will be taking any kind of role, Boucher said: "I’ll will have to see how we follow up on this. I’m not aware of any plans at this point."

Asked whether the US encouraged the Hizbul to declare a ceasefire, Boucher said he did not want to claim any particular role in this for the United States. The US has consistently, though, encouraged dialogue, he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan today held India responsible for destroying the "opportunity" for peace in Kashmir as the ceasefire deadline ran out.

"Negative and transparently insincere responses by Prime Minister Vajpayee and other Indian officials have destroyed the possibility for a peace process," a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman said.

"India insisted on excluding Pakistan from any dialogue process, thus, rejecting international calls for a dialogue with Pakistan and the UN decisions which recognise Pakistan and India as principal parties to Kashmir dispute," the spokesman said in a statement.

It also urged the international community to persuade India "to follow such a course." "The international community, especially the major powers, can play a historic role at this critical juncture," it said.