Pakistan accused of killing nine pilgrims

PAKISTAN-BASED Muslim militants were blamed for an ambush on Hindu pilgrims in Indian Kashmir that left at least nine dead and 27 injured yesterday.

The grenade and gun attack raised tensions between the nuclear armed

rivals who have been on the brink of war over Kashmir for months.

New Delhi accuses Islamabad of backing the Islamic guerrillas fighting for Kashmir’s independence or merger with Pakistan.

About six gunmen sneaked into the pilgrimage transit camp in Nunwan, 55 miles southeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, said Nirmal Raj, commander of the Central Reserve Police guarding the camp.

He said the police retaliated, killing one of the rebels.

There were bullet holes in the makeshift tin-sheet toilets and bloodied clothes, shoes and sandals littered the campground.

Chamanlal Gupta, India’s junior defence minister who travelled to the campsite, said the dead militant carried a suicide note that said his aim was to disrupt the pilgrimage.

It also asked that he be buried at a Muslim shrine in the same area.

Mr Gupta said the man carried a Kalashnikov automatic rifle with the inscription Mujahedeen Cassette House, Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city.

The gun had a sticker that read, Al-Umar Mujahedeen.

Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said a militant outfit Al-Mansuriya, an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, was to blame.

Junior home minister ID Swamy, said: “There can be Pakistan’s involvement since its policy was to disturb peace in Kashmir. There will be attempts to disturb elections in Kashmir. We will foil these attempts.”

The gunmen burst into the camp in a forest clearing by the icy Lidder River, lobbed a grenade and began firing automatic rifles at pilgrims preparing for the 33 mile uphill climb to the Amarnath shrine.

The Himalayan cave houses an icy stalagmite worshipped as an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva. More than 2,000 pilgrims were inside the tented camp at the time of attack.

“We heard a sudden explosion on the east side of the camp near the makeshift toilets and then the guards asked us to lie flat on the ground,” said Rajwant Soni, who was injured.

“Six people were killed and lying on the grass in front of me,” added Mr Soni

At least 125,000 Hindu pilgrims are making the annual pilgrimage. It was the sixth attack on the pilgrims this year, leading to 24 deaths.

The last attack, on July 30, killed three and injured 22 pilgrims.

In three other clashes in Kashmir yesterday, five suspected militants and three soldiers were killed.

At least 60,000 people have been killed during the militants’ 12 year insurgency, and India and Pakistan have twice gone to war over the Himalayan enclave that both claim in its entirety.

India and Pakistan have had a million troops along their frontier since December, when New Delhi accused Pakistan-based militants and Pakistan’s spy agency of backing a deadly suicide assault on its Parliament compound.

Pakistan repeatedly denies giving training or weapons to the militants, though Islamabad backs their cause.