அமர்நாத் யாத்ரீகர்கள் மீது இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகள் தாக்குதல் - ஒருவர் பலி, 15 பேர் படுகாயம்

அமர்நாத் கோவிலுக்கு செல்லும் யாத்ரீகர்கள் மீது இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகள் தாக்கியதில் ஒரு யாத்ரீகர் பலியானார். 16 பேர் படுகாயமடைந்தனர்.

Islamic rebels kill 1, wound 16 in attack on Hindu pilgrims in Indian Kashmir
The Associated Press
Published: July 18, 2007

SRINAGAR, India: Suspected Islamic rebels threw a hand grenade at a market near a camp housing Hindu pilgrims in India's portion of Kashmir, killing one person and wounding 16, police said Wednesday.

The attack took place late Tuesday in the crowded makeshift market at Baltal, a camp for hundreds of thousands of Hindus at the start of their pilgrimage to the nearby Amarnath shrine, said Farooq Ahmed, a senior police officer.

At least 17 people, including four pilgrims, were wounded in the attack, Ahmed said. Eight of the wounded were rushed to a Srinagar hospital in critical condition and one later died.

It was not immediately known if the person who died was a pilgrim.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Baltal, 110 kilometers (68 miles) northeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state.

Islamic separatists have targeted the pilgrimage in the past, charging that Hindu-majority India uses the annual religious event as a political statement to bolster its claim over the Himalayan region that is divided between Pakistan and India but claimed by both in its entirety.

Officials say at least 400,000 devotees are expected to visit the Amarnath shrine, a cave that long housed a large icicle revered as an incarnation of the Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration.

The stalagmite-like icicle fluctuated in size over the years, and although it completely melted away for the first time earlier this year, pilgrims continue to flock to the cave, which is considered sacred.

Thousands of soldiers have been deployed along the pilgrims' route during the two months the cave is open.

Also Wednesday police killed a suspected militant, described as a senior member of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba group, in a clash in the mountainous Bhaderwah district, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the city of Jammu, said local superintendent of Police, Manohar Singh.

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba is one of the largest of about a dozen militant groups fighting since 1989 for independence for Muslim majority Kashmir or a merger with neighboring Pakistan. At least 68,000 people have been killed in the conflict.