From PTI, with thanks to Sunindia:
Ayodhya, July 5. (PTI): Hurling grenades and firing indiscriminately, six heavily armed terrorists today made an attempt to storm the high-security makeshift Ram temple here but were killed before they could make it to the shrine.
The attackers came in an ambassador car at around 9.00 am, preceded by an explosive-laden jeep which they rammed into the security barricade, and tried to enter the premises by firing indiscrimnately from AK 47 and AK 56 rifles.
While one militant who rammed the jeep was blown to pieces, five others were killed in the encounter with security personnel, Faizabad Commissioner Arun Sinha said.
Some background from the BBC:
Why is the site disputed?
Many believe that Ayodhya, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, is the birthplace of one of the most revered deities in Hinduism, Lord Rama.
Ayodhya is mentioned in several Hindu scriptures and has been a place of holy pilgrimage for centuries.
Why is the dispute over Ayodhya so dangerous?
Militant Hindus demolished the 16th-century Babri mosque in 1992, vowing to replace it with a Hindu temple to Rama.
They say they were justified in destroying the mosque because there used to be a Hindu temple marking Rama’s birthplace on that spot before.
The mosque was torn down by supporters of the hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council), the Shiv Sena party and then-opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The destruction prompted one of India’s worst bouts of nationwide religious rioting between Hindus and the country’s Muslim minority, which left 2,000 people dead.
The bloodshed was viewed as the most serious threat to India’s secular identity since independence in 1947.
And here is some evidence that a temple did indeed exist there before it was demolished to make way for the mosque.