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14 hurt in grenade attack in Kashmir tourist town
NEW DELHI - Suspected Muslim militants in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir injured fourteen people, including seven tourists, in a grenade attack, news reports said. The incident occurred in the tourist resort of Pahalgam, 96 kilometres south-east of state capital Srinagar, IANS news agency reported.The suspected militants hurled a grenade at some policemen near a hotel in the town, the report said, quoting the police. Fourteen people, including seven Indian tourists, were injured, a local police official said. One of the tourists was in critical condition. We have arranged for evacuation of the injured tourists to Srinagar city for better medical care, said Sheikh Owais, deputy inspector general of police south Kashmir range. Pahalgam is a popular summer destination for Indian tourists. The police said there were hundreds of tourists in the town, which also functions as the base camp for Hindu pilgrims on the way to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath. This years pilgrimage is scheduled to begin on May 11 and will continue for two months after which the route is closed due to snowfall in the higher reaches of the Himalayas. The Indian authorities have increased security measures for the pilgrims after a militant attack on August 6, 2002 in which nine pilgrims were killed and 37 injured. More than 70,000 people - security personnel, militants and civilians - have died in Jammu and Kashmir in a violent separatist movement that peaked in 1989. Posted by: Steve 2006-04-27 |
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