Free Republic

A 12-year-old girl was found alive after she was buried under snow for 18 hours when an avalanche in Pakistan-administered Kashmir engulfed the family house. Rescuers have been racing against time to reach scores of people believed still to be trapped inside their homes, buried under avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall. The worst affected area was Kashmir's Neelum Valley, where the 21 bodies were retrieved, said Ahmad Raza Qadri, a minister for disaster management. He said that since Sunday, 76 people have been killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in weather-related incidents.

SRINAGAR: At least 12 people were killed and 100 injured on Monday when a vehicle bomb exploded near a school in Pulwama town of Jammu and Kashmir. The blast shook the town of Pulwama, 30 kilometers south of Srinagar, at around 11.00 am. Police said two people were killed on the spot, while two died on the way to hospital in Srinagar. "So far four people have died and over 50 are injured," a spokesman said. "Initial reports suggest that an improvised explosive device fitted to a vehicle - either a truck or a car - detonated," he said. The...