Bomb Kills Five at Kashmir Dairy Yard

Reuters ^ | Tue April 22, 2003 02:55 AM ET

[miltonim]

Bomb Kills Five at Kashmir Dairy Yard

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - At least five civilians died when a homemade bomb planted by suspected Muslim separatists ripped through a crowded cattle-milking yard in Indian Kashmir on Tuesday, police said. Another 11 people were injured, many seriously, in the attack in Tral village, south of the summer capital, Srinagar.

"It was an improvised explosive device planted near a field and was probably meant to target security forces," a police spokesman told Reuters.

The bomb went off early in the morning as villagers crowded into the communal yard to milk their cattle.

Hours later, four soldiers were wounded when their vehicle ran over a land mine in nearby Qazigund, police said.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, which came days after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee urged talks with Pakistan and militant groups to end the violence during a landmark rally in Kashmir's separatist heartland.

India says more than 38,000 people have died in the Muslim revolt against New Delhi's rule in its only Muslim-majority state, although separatists put the toll closer to 85,000.

India accuses nuclear neighbor and rival Pakistan of arming and training rebels and sending them across the border.

Pakistan denies the charge.

The two nations came close to their third war over Kashmir at the height of a 10-month military standoff last year, triggered by an attack on India's parliament that New Delhi blamed on Kashmiri separatists based in Pakistan.

The tensions alarmed foreign governments and sparked a flurry of diplomatic lobbying.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is expected to visit South Asia within weeks in a bid to ease tensions and press for dialogue.

India and Pakistan both say they are ready to talk immediately, but New Delhi insists Pakistan first end the support for militants that Islamabad in turn denies providing.

[miltonim]

Relatives of a victim of a bomb blast wail over his death in the village of Gulshanpora in Indian Kashmir, April 22, 2003. At least 23 people, including six civilians, died in a bomb attack on a crowded cattle milking yard and in separate gun battles between security forces and suspected Muslim rebels.

Photo by Fayaz Kabli/Reuters

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