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| India-Pakistan |
| 9 Hindu pilgrims among 11 hurt in Kashmir blast |
| 2007-07-22 |
| Eleven people, including nine Hindu pilgrims, were wounded on Saturday when suspected separatist militants lobbed a grenade at a pilgrims’ community kitchen in Indian-held Kashmir, police said. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the second in the past five days during an annual pilgrimage that attracts tens of thousands of Hindus to the Amarnath shrine, where devotees worship a phallus-shaped ice stalagmite seen as a symbol of Lord Shiva, the Hindu deity of destruction. “The blast triggered panic in Pahalgam, many pilgrims were screaming and running,” a police official said. Pahalgam is one of the two base camps located near Srinagar. The two-month long pilgrimage has been targeted several times since a revolt against Indian rule broke out in 1989. Authorities said three people were critically wounded, adding that no group had immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Authorities have deployed thousands of soldiers and policemen along the pilgrims’ route, which crosses icy streams, goes around glacier-fed lakes and through snow-covered mountain passes. |
| Posted by:Fred |