At least five unidentified militants used a car bomb to blow up a security wall and stormed a Hindu temple at one of India's holiest religious sites today.
That attack on the Ayodhya complex set off a fierce gun battle with police and paramilitary forces that left all the attackers dead.
The sprawling 80-acre complex in the northern city of Ayodhya stands at the heart of India's biggest religious controversy. It is the site where Hindu nationalists demolished an ancient Muslim mosque in 1992, sparking religious riots that killed more than 2,000 people.
The home secretary of Uttar Pradesh state, where the temple complex is located, said the attackers used two vehicles - a 4x4 vehicle loaded with bombs that blew up part of a wall at the outer periphery of the high-security complex, and a car that was driven through the breach in the wall.
Hindu leaders claim the mosque in Ayodhya, 345 miles east of New Delhi, was built by Mogul rulers at the site of a Hindu temple. They believe the site is the birthplace of Hinduism's highest god, Ram, but Muslims say there is no proof of that claim.
AP