Resistance Bombing Hits Kashmir
11/04/2001| IslamWeb
JAMMU, Indian-ruled Kashmir, (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say Resistance men have carried out a bombing attack on a camp of the Indian army at the village of Lassipora in the frontier district of Kupwara. The extent of casualties is not yet known and the Indian army operation was said to be continuing. (Read map caption below)
Independence day celebrations in Kashmir were marred on Wednesday by more Resistance attacks leaving at least 15 people dead and many more injured. The attacks followed a speech by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, renewing his criticism of Pakistan and saying it should stop believing it could win Kashmir through what he called 'terrorism.'
Kashmiri Resistance killed seven people including five Hindus in Indian-ruled Jammu and Kashmir state as the Indians marked their country's Independence Day on Wednesday.
Muslim Resistance men entered the homes of Hindu people and opened fire in Udhampur district, some 40 miles from Jammu, the winter capital of the disputed Himalayan territory.
Five people were killed on the spot and one was wounded.
India marks August 15 as Independence Day to celebrate its freedom from British rule in 1947.
Tens of thousands of troops have been deployed to prevent violence in Kashmir and other flashpoints across the country where in the past Resistance men have launched attacks on Independence Day celebrations.
Ethnic minority guerrillas struck in the remote northeastern state of Tipura killing three people on Tuesday night, police said.
Guerrillas of the All Tripura Tiger Force which had called for a 24-hour strike to mark the Independence Day dragged the victims from their house in North Maharani, some 45 miles north of state capital Agartala.
Dozens of insurgents groups have been fighting Indian rule in the mountainous northeast, home to more than 200 ethnic groups.
Resistance in Kashmir where Indian forces are battling to quell a nearly 12-year-revolt, has flared since the leaders of India and Pakistan failed to make any progress on the dispute in a first summit in more than two years last month.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in an Independence Day address blamed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for the failed talks.
India which considers the whole of Jammu and Kashmir as integral part of the country holds Pakistan responsible for the revolt that has killed more than 30,000 people.
Pakistan, which denies direct involvement in the Kashmir revolt, says the people of the Muslim-majority region must be given the right to self-determination.
MAP CAPTION:
In Srinagar, the main independence day function was held peacefully but amid heavy security. Shops and businesses stayed shut and traffic was off the roads in response to a strike call by Kashmiri Resistance groups. Extra security was in place at a sports stadium in the city where the chief minister, Farooq Abdullah, watched a parade and made a speech.
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