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To: sdk7x7

Same incident?...

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants killed seven people, six of them tourists, on Tuesday in a series of grenade attacks in Srinagar, police said, the most concerted targeting of civilians in months.

In the bloodiest strike, a grenade was thrown inside a bus in Srinagar, near the city's famous mountain-ringed Dal Lake, killing the six holidaymakers and wounding seven. Four other people were also hurt.

A later blast at a tourist centre wounded six people.

Two attacks took place at the busy Lal Chowk crossing and one in a market, killing one person and wounding 14 others.

"I saw a huge orange flash coming out of the bus with a loud explosion," said Shabir Ahmad, a shopkeeper who witnessed the bus blast where a blood-stained doll was visible in a pool of blood.

Television channels showed a young boy with a bandage on his thigh in hospital and said some of the tourists killed and wounded were from West Bengal.

In New Delhi, Home Secretary V.K. Duggal told reporters no militant group had claimed responsibility for the attacks "but I can tell you we know and we are going to get them".

Condemning the attacks on "softest of soft" targets, Duggal said the strikes were aimed at disrupting an on-going peace process with Pakistan, but added that this would not happen.

"There is no such thinking the peace process would be halted or slowed down because of this," he said.

Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since shortly after the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947, but both claim it in full.

The nuclear rivals have fought two of their three wars over the scenic Himalayan region where an Islamist anti-India revolt has killed more than 45,000 people since 1989.

The neighbours started peace talks aimed at resolving the territorial row in 2004 but have made little progress.


TOURISTS WERE COMING BACK

The main markets of the normally bustling city shut after the attacks as ambulances raced down the streets, ferrying the injured.

The blasts come on a day when voters in quake-hit Pakistani Kashmir cast their ballots for a new legislative assembly.

In one of the attacks, a car went up in flames. Shattered car window fragments littered the road and a rose lay on the ground.

Large numbers of tourists visit Kashmir each year despite the insurgency. Last year, a record number of more than 600,000 holidayed in the region -- known for its snow-peaked mountains, pristine rivers and pine forests.

This followed a fall in violence as the peace process began.

But since April, the month the tourist season starts, Muslim guerrillas have been targeting visitors.

At least 21 people were wounded on May 31 in a grenade attack on a tourist bus near Dal Lake.

"Why are they attacking tourists?" asked Manoj Kumar, 40, who had come from Mumbai to Srinagar on a holiday with his wife and two children. "It is really getting worse. We have decided to leave tomorrow."

Asked if there was "cross-border" support for such strikes, Duggal said: "This type of training, supply of equipments, communication systems, launching, funding and support structure of terrorism, cannot function without a strong backup."

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants to wage a revolt in its part of Kashmir. Islamabad denies this.

(Additional reporting by Kamil Zaheer in NEW DELHI)


21 posted on 07/11/2006 6:25:47 AM PDT by sdk7x7 ("This time I think the Americans are serious. Bush is not like Clinton. I think this is the end.")
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To: All

From a friend /// "just spoke with my mom who is on her way back from work there ... lots of chaos .. all along the suburban train route .. 3 so far .. many dead .. several injured ... and its pouring cats and dogs ..."


22 posted on 07/11/2006 6:26:55 AM PDT by Cage Rattler
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To: sdk7x7

Unsure of the relation between these two stories... Srinigar is in the north of India, near the Kashmir region. Mumbai, where CNN initially said the bombing occurred, appeard to be in the middle western part of the country.


24 posted on 07/11/2006 6:28:11 AM PDT by sdk7x7 ("This time I think the Americans are serious. Bush is not like Clinton. I think this is the end.")
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To: Gengis Khan

Are you okay?


45 posted on 07/11/2006 6:51:44 AM PDT by little jeremiah
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