WASHINGTON: The US is committed to build a “strong partnership” with India to combat terrorism, the White House said today as it condemned the terror attack on an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri town that killed 17 soldiers.

“The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack on an Indian Army base in Kashmir during the early morning of September 18,” the State Department Spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

“We extend our condolences to the victims and their families,” he said. “The United States is committed to our strong partnership with the Indian government to combat terrorism,” Kirby added. Meanwhile, the US Ambassador to India Richard Verma also condemned the attack. “We strongly condemn the terror attack in Uri, J&K. Our thoughts are with the families of the brave soldiers who lost their lives #UriAttack,” Verma tweeted in New Delhi. The US statement comes in the aftermath of the terror attack at a army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri town that killed 17 army soldiers and wounded 19 others, many of them critically. Four heavily armed militants were also killed in the ensuing encounter.—PTI