Posted on 04/26/2003 5:21:09 PM PDT by miltonim
Terror rakes Valley while Delhi, Islamabad talk peace
Seven security personnel, including an Army major, and a block President of the ruling People's Democratic Party, were among 15 people killed and 40 injured on Friday as militants stepped up their attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said.
The escalated violence saw the first suicide attack of the year in the state which made a vain attempt to target a sector headquarters of BSF, ambush on an Army patrol and a blast inside a court in Baramulla district of north Kashmir which witnessed the maximum number of militancy-related incidents on Friday, the sources said.
Three suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed militants attempted to storm a BSF camp in Bandipore, triggering a gun-battle which killed three security personnel, a civilian and two terrorists.
Three members of the suicide squad approached the sector headquarters at Bagh-Bandipora, 55 kms from Srinagar, from the rear side around 0945 hours hurling grenades and opening fire on the troops working in a garage, a BSF spokesman said.
The terrorists then moved towards the main gate, hardly 50 yards from the rear side, and tried to force their entry. However, their attempt was foiled by the alert sentry who engaged them in a gunfight and shot two of them dead while the third escaped, the spokesman said.
Six BSF personnel were seriously injured in the encounter out of which three-constable Ram Dev Singh, constable driver Shabir Ahmed and constable Mushtaq Ahmed-succumbed to their injuries, the spokesman said.
A civilian, Ghulam Mohammed Khan, hailing from Madar village in Bandipore also died in the incident and his mutuliated body was recovered during the subsequent operation near the main gate.
Prior to the suicide attack, militants ambushed an Army search party killing a major and a jawan and wounding three other soldiers at village Sumblar, also in Bandipora, early on Friday, the sources said.
They said troops fired back but the ultras fled away taking advantage of darkness.
In another incident, three persons including two women were killed and 32 others injured when suspected militants triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) inside a local court at Pattan, 27 kms from Srinagar on Srinagar-Baramulla highway, on Friday afternoon.
The blast took place in the complex near the court of the Judicial Magistrate around 1220 hours, killing a woman Nasreen instantly and wounding 34 others.
Two of the injured identified as Fatima (Meema) and Ghulam Rasool Bhat, succumbed to his wounds while being shifted to the hospital, the sources said.
They said an advocate was among the injured. This was the second blast at a crowded place in the valley during the past four days. On Tuesday, militants set off an IED at Gulshanpora in south Kashmir killing six civilians and wounding ten others.
In Jammu district, the sources said two Army jawans were killed and an equal number injured in two separate mine blasts at Makwal and Matal villages on Thursday evening.
A block President of PDP Abdul Gani Malik and a surrendered militant Abdul Ahmad Malik were shot dead by militants inside their houses at Dangiwacha in Baramulla late on Thursday night, the sources said.
They said militants also killed three persons identified as Fayaz Ahmad Dar and Javid Ahmad and Farooq Ahmad at Larev and Drangbal in Pulwama district and Handwara in Kupwara district, respectively.
The body of a civilian Nazir Ahmad Chohan was recovered by police from Kellar in Pulwama district on Friday, the sources said adding the deceased had reportedly died in a crossfire between militants and security forces in the village.
However, residents of the village staged a protest demonstration on Friday alleging that Chohan was picked up by Army last night for questioning and killed during interrogation. Police also picked up the body of an unidentified person from Kurhama in Kupwara district on Friday. The identity of the deceased and cause of his death is being ascertained, the sources said.
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