Four Indian Soldiers Killed in Kashmir Blast

Scotsman ^ | Thu 5 Feb 2004 | PA

[yonif]

At least four Indian soldiers were killed and four wounded today in an explosion blamed on Muslim militants fighting for the independence of India-held Kashmir, the army said.

A truck carrying several soldiers on their way to a military operation hit an explosive device near Mattan, 40 miles south of Srinagar, summer capital of India’s Jammu-Kashmir state.

“The truck blew up, killing the four,” said army spokesman Colonel Dharma Adhikari.

“We believe the device was planted by the terrorists,” Adhikari said, using the term Indian authorities always use to refer to the Islamic militants fighting in Jammu-Kashmir state since 1989.

The losses were the worst suffered by the Indian army since the Indian government held its first talks with Kashmiri separatist leaders last month. The separatists and the government called for a peaceful solution to the 55-year-old dispute over Kashmir, claimed by both India and Pakistan.

The two countries have abided by a cease-fire on their frontier since November 26, but it did not extend to the fighting between the Indian security forces and militant groups, most of them based in Pakistan.

More than a dozen guerrilla groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. More than 65,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

India and Pakistan plan a meeting in Islamabad this month to resume a dialogue aimed at settling the Kashmir dispute and other controversies.

[GeronL]

More war. It seems that everywhere you look its the muslims on the offensive... and its not a coincidence

[Cronos]

Out of the 24 odd conflict points in the world 22 involve slammmi nations. And all the major, most deadliest conflicts involve 'em. Any coincidence??

[swarthyguy]

I can never get that picture of Osama in one of his videotapes with his AK47 on a wall behind him pointing directly at India.

More mayhem in Kashmir today.




20 killed in Kashmir violence
By Izhar Wani in India
February 06, 2004
TWENTY people were killed today in attacks across Indian Kashmir on the deadliest day in the divided Himalayan province since Pakistan and India agreed to resume talks a month ago.

Nine Islamic rebels and an Indian army officer were killed in a gunbattle in the northern Kupwara district, with three of the guerrillas' bodies so charred they could not be recovered, police said.

The shootout came hours after four troops from the army's counter-insurgency wing, the Rashtriya Rifles, were killed when their bus ran over a landmine in the forests of the central Anantnag district, according to an army spokesman.

He said another eight soldiers and two people operating the bus on contract were injured by the blast.

Kashmir's largest rebel group Hizbul Mujahedin, which wants Indian Kashmir to join Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the mine attack in a telephone call to media in the summer capital Srinagar.

Elsewhere, suspected rebels shot dead two civilians, a bystander was killed in crossfire and three more militants were gunned down by troops, police said.

It was the deadliest day in the scenic Himalayan territory since India and Pakistan, which both claim Kashmir in full, agreed on the sidelines of a January 4-6 regional summit in Islamabad to resume dialogue stalled since 2001.