Defence Minister A.K. Antony has denounced the terror attack on Thursday in Jammu and said the security forces will deal with the militants with a firm hand.

Mr. Antony conveyed his condolences to the family of an officer and the soldiers killed in the attack, an official statement here said.

“The minister condemned the dastardly attack by terrorists on Indian security posts in Jammu today (Thursday). He conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the family members of the officers and jawans who were martyred in this despicable attack,” the statement said.

“The minister said the Indian security establishment will leave no stone unturned in dealing with the terrorists with a firm hand,” the statement added.

Armed militants on Thursday attacked a police station in Jammu region and commandeered a truck which they drove into an army camp. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said 12 people had been killed.

BJP politicising terror attacks: Govt

The government on Thursday accused BJP of “politicising” the terror attacks in Jammu by asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and said the opposition party too had invited former President Pervez Musharraf after Kargil war.

Defending the Prime Minister’s decision to go ahead with talks with Mr. Sharif, Minister of State for Home RPN Singh said India will forcefully raise the issue of terror during the bilateral meeting.

“BJP has no moral right to criticise the UPA government. When they were in power, even they invited Kargil war architect Musharraf for talks. BJP should not forget that,” he told reporters here.

His comments came in the wake of BJP president Rajnath Singh accusing the government of pursuing a “spineless” diplomacy and demanding that Prime Minister should call off his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York on Sunday in the wake of twin terror strikes in Jammu region.

RPN Singh said there were certain people who do not want normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan and whenever any peace initiative is taken, efforts are made to derail it.

“It is extremely unfortunate that whenever there is an initiative for peace between India and Pakistan, there are attempts to derail the talks. Today’s terrorist attack is that only. But we do not need to bog down with it,” he said.