Adam
08-06-02, 08:12 AM
Rebels kill eight Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir
New Delhi and Srinagar, India — Suspected Islamic militants lobbed a grenade and opened fire Tuesday on Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir, killing eight of them and wounding 27, police said. In other parts of the disputed region, five suspected militants and three soldiers were killed, a news report said.
The violence could exacerbate tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, who have been on a war footing for eight months due to similar attacks. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of backing the Islamic guerrillas fighting for Kashmir's independence or merger with Pakistan.
Police suspect Islamic militants were behind the pre-dawn ambush of the pilgrims. A half dozen militants snuck into the pilgrimage transit camp in Nunwan, about 88 kilometres southeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's northern Jammu-Kashmir state, according to Nirmal Raj, commander of the Central Reserve Police guarding the camp.
He said police retaliated, killing one of the rebels. The army surrounded the area and searched the hills for other suspects.
Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani told reporters on Tuesday that a group called Al Mansoor had claimed responsibility for the attack on the pilgrims. "This organization is the new name of Lashkar-e-Taiba," he said.
Lashkar is one of the groups banned in Pakistan as part of a broader crackdown on Islamic extremists. But New Delhi says guerrillas have continued to cross from Pakistan into Indian Kashmir to join a nearly 13-year-old revolt there.
Mr. Advani said the government will press ahead with elections in Jammu and Kashmir in September and October and the heavily guarded monthlong pilgrimage to a shrine high in the Himalayas would continue despite the attack. "There will be no re-thinking on the election schedule in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Islamabad denies involvement in the separatist revolt in the region but seeks implementation of UN Security Council resolutions calling for a plebiscite to decide whether it should be part of India or Pakistan.
In three other clashes Tuesday, five suspected militants and three army soldiers were killed, the independent Press Trust of India news agency said.
In northern Kashmir, two suspected militants in army uniforms opened fire at an army camp and tried to enter it in the border district of Kupwara, about 72 kilometres north of Srinagar. They were killed by army guards, the report said.
There were no immediate details on the two other clashes.
In the Hindu pilgrimage attack, suspected guerrillas burst into the camp in a forest clearing by the icy Lidder River, where devotees were preparing for the 52-kilometre hike to the Amarnath shrine. The Himalayan cave houses an icy stalagmite worshipped as an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva.
More than 2,000 pilgrims were inside the tented camp at the time of attack, witnesses said.
"We heard a sudden explosion on the east side of the camp near the makeshift toilets and then the guards asked us to lie flat on the ground," said Rajwant Soni, an injured pilgrim treated at a hospital in Srinagar. "Six people were killed and lying on the grass in front of me."
At least 125,000 Hindu pilgrims are making the monthlong pilgrimage. It was the sixth attack against the pilgrims this year; there have been 24 deaths in all. The last attack, on July 30, killed three and injured 22 pilgrims.
Pervez Dewan, a top state administrator, said the annual pilgrimage would continue despite the attack.
The annual pilgrimage from the city of Jammu has been targeted by Islamic militants in the past. Guerrillas killed 15 pilgrims last year and 35 in 2000.
No specific threats were made this year by the separatist groups. However, police say the threat of violence is greater now because India is holding state elections in Kashmir in September and October.
Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan shortly after British rule over the subcontinent ended in 1947. Various separatist factions in Indian Kashmir want either independence or to join Pakistan.
Jammu-Kashmir is the only majority Muslim state in predominantly Hindu India.
At least 60,000 people have been killed during the 12-year insurgency. India and Pakistan have gone to war twice over the Himalayan enclave.
Source. (http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20020806/wkash08062/Front/homeBN/breakingnews)
New Delhi and Srinagar, India — Suspected Islamic militants lobbed a grenade and opened fire Tuesday on Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir, killing eight of them and wounding 27, police said. In other parts of the disputed region, five suspected militants and three soldiers were killed, a news report said.
The violence could exacerbate tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, who have been on a war footing for eight months due to similar attacks. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of backing the Islamic guerrillas fighting for Kashmir's independence or merger with Pakistan.
Police suspect Islamic militants were behind the pre-dawn ambush of the pilgrims. A half dozen militants snuck into the pilgrimage transit camp in Nunwan, about 88 kilometres southeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's northern Jammu-Kashmir state, according to Nirmal Raj, commander of the Central Reserve Police guarding the camp.
He said police retaliated, killing one of the rebels. The army surrounded the area and searched the hills for other suspects.
Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani told reporters on Tuesday that a group called Al Mansoor had claimed responsibility for the attack on the pilgrims. "This organization is the new name of Lashkar-e-Taiba," he said.
Lashkar is one of the groups banned in Pakistan as part of a broader crackdown on Islamic extremists. But New Delhi says guerrillas have continued to cross from Pakistan into Indian Kashmir to join a nearly 13-year-old revolt there.
Mr. Advani said the government will press ahead with elections in Jammu and Kashmir in September and October and the heavily guarded monthlong pilgrimage to a shrine high in the Himalayas would continue despite the attack. "There will be no re-thinking on the election schedule in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Islamabad denies involvement in the separatist revolt in the region but seeks implementation of UN Security Council resolutions calling for a plebiscite to decide whether it should be part of India or Pakistan.
In three other clashes Tuesday, five suspected militants and three army soldiers were killed, the independent Press Trust of India news agency said.
In northern Kashmir, two suspected militants in army uniforms opened fire at an army camp and tried to enter it in the border district of Kupwara, about 72 kilometres north of Srinagar. They were killed by army guards, the report said.
There were no immediate details on the two other clashes.
In the Hindu pilgrimage attack, suspected guerrillas burst into the camp in a forest clearing by the icy Lidder River, where devotees were preparing for the 52-kilometre hike to the Amarnath shrine. The Himalayan cave houses an icy stalagmite worshipped as an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva.
More than 2,000 pilgrims were inside the tented camp at the time of attack, witnesses said.
"We heard a sudden explosion on the east side of the camp near the makeshift toilets and then the guards asked us to lie flat on the ground," said Rajwant Soni, an injured pilgrim treated at a hospital in Srinagar. "Six people were killed and lying on the grass in front of me."
At least 125,000 Hindu pilgrims are making the monthlong pilgrimage. It was the sixth attack against the pilgrims this year; there have been 24 deaths in all. The last attack, on July 30, killed three and injured 22 pilgrims.
Pervez Dewan, a top state administrator, said the annual pilgrimage would continue despite the attack.
The annual pilgrimage from the city of Jammu has been targeted by Islamic militants in the past. Guerrillas killed 15 pilgrims last year and 35 in 2000.
No specific threats were made this year by the separatist groups. However, police say the threat of violence is greater now because India is holding state elections in Kashmir in September and October.
Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan shortly after British rule over the subcontinent ended in 1947. Various separatist factions in Indian Kashmir want either independence or to join Pakistan.
Jammu-Kashmir is the only majority Muslim state in predominantly Hindu India.
At least 60,000 people have been killed during the 12-year insurgency. India and Pakistan have gone to war twice over the Himalayan enclave.
Source. (http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20020806/wkash08062/Front/homeBN/breakingnews)