|
|
July 20, 2008
Two Killed in Gulmarg
Blast,
Amarnath Route Closed after Firing
Srinagar
Two people were killed and five were wounded after separatist
militants hurled a grenade at a bus stand in Jammu and Kashmir's
resort town of Gulmarg even as the Amarnath Yatra route was closed
for pilgrims after guerrillas attacked security forces.
Militants tossed a grenade near the bus stand in the mountain resort
of Gulmarg, 45 km from here, Sunday. The grenade exploded close to a
tourist bus, a police official said.
Officials said seven-year-old Muhammad Yusuf Chopan had succumbed to
his critical splinter wounds. A tourist identified as Ashok Kumar
from Uttar Pradesh died in the Tangmarg hospital here, where he was
shifted immediately after the explosion.
Five injured were also undergoing treatment in various hospitals.
The blast triggered panic and tension in the tourist resort famous
for its breathtaking beauty and skiing slopes. The mountain resort
is a favourite destination of domestic and foreign tourists who
throng the Valley.
In another attack, militants struck on the Amarnath cave shrine
pilgrimage route near Nagbal in Ganderbal district of north Kashmir
Sunday evening, hurling grenades and firing indiscriminately at a
road opening team of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
"The CRPF troopers also retaliated and engaged the militants in an
encounter (gun battle). Army troops were also rushed to the spot and
the Nagbal area and adjoining Darend village were surrounded.
Searches are being conducted," a senior police officer said.
Hundreds of pilgrims use the route every day to reach the Baltel
base camp on their way to the shrine. "We will re-open the road once
the searches are completed," the officer said.
The two terrorist attacks come a day after after nine army men were
killed in a powerful bomb blast at Narbal on the Srinagar-Uri
highway.
IANS
|
July 20, 2008
Top
|
|
