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| India-Pakistan |
| 25 killed in Jammu attack |
| 2002-07-14 |
| From Greater Kashmir newspaper (link only good for a day): Director General of Police Ashok Suri said that militants hurled two grenades and then sprayed bullets indiscriminately in a densely populated slum dwellers colony in Kasim Nagar, killing 26 persons and injuring 32. The residents of the locality were busy watching the India versus England cricket match when the firing began. "Thirteen persons died on the spot while others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital," Suri said. The dead included 13 women, 11 men and a three-year-old child. The toll is likely to go up because of the severe nature of injuries received by the injured who are undergoing hospitalisation in different city hospitals. Senior Superintendent of Police, Jammu, Farooq Khan said that the gunment, believed to be three in number, escaped the scene under the under the cover of darkness into upper forest areas of Bhatandi, after a fierce encounter with security forces lasting nearly four hours. More than 100 people were trapped at the scene of enounter while the gunbattle was going on. The entire belt has been sealed off and massive combing operations launched to nab the gunmen involved in the killings. More on this from The Hindu newspaper: Eyewitnesses told The Hindu that the militants in their early twenties, with carry bags, entered the locality, and had refreshments at a local shop, before launching the attack. There were conflicting reports on whether the militants were dressed in sadhu [holy man] robes. Since the words "war crimes" are trotted out every time a member of the Bush administration uses the wrong fork, I'd like to point out at this point that an unprovoked attack on a crowd of impoverished slum dwellers watching a televised cricket game, in which the targets are unarmed and the majority of the casualties are women and children, might qualify as a real war crime. Perhaps the International Criminal Court bunch would like to begin an investigation into this incident this afternoon? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 At night, close to the forest, with a hundred civilians worrying about keeping their heads down... Yeah. I can believe they got away. Apparently the Indos don't have helicopters with searchlights in the air and dogs - bloodhounds and rottweilers - on the ground. And they should. |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-07-14 16:19:10 |
| #1 Did the perps really "get away" after being surrounded by security forces? Authorities in J & K don't always disclose identities of captive terrorists. And whenever they capture one, they have ways of getting all the information they need. |
| Posted by: RG Fulton 2002-07-14 09:23:16 |