Seven Killed in Kashmir Raids

25/01/2004| IslamWeb

Seven people, including a woman, were killed in Kashmir, where security forces recovered rockets and explosives ahead of India's Republic Day tomorrow, Indian officials said yesterday. In one attack, two suspected Kashmiri fighters were killed by Indian security forces in Poonch district in Kashmir overnight, a police spokesman said. "The two were planning to carry out a suicide attack on some vital installation in the district," he said. Another fighter was shot dead in Doda district, the spokesman said. Suspected fighters shot dead three people, including a teenage student and a woman, in Poonch and Anantnag districts overnight, police said. The third was a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, police said, adding he was killed by members of group Hizbul Mujahideen during an inter-group clash. A trooper of India's Border Security Force (BSF) was shot dead by fighters at point blank range in Hyderpora area of Srinagar, the police said. Indian security forces have increased their search operations across Kashmir to prevent militant attacks tomorrow. "Searches are more extensive around venues for celebrations," said Acharya. The main event in the occupied state will be held in the winter capital, Jammu. The Jammu sports stadium, which is to host the official celebrations, has been declared out of bounds and all roads leading to it have been sealed, a police spokesman said. Security personnel have combed the stadium with mine detectors and other sophisticated equipment to detect any explosive devices, he said. Troops also raided scores of houses in Bhatindi on the outskirts of Jammu and took six youths into preventive custody, he added. Meanwhile, Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed yesterday said more than a dozen political prisoners would be released as part of the peace moves. "Nearly 18 (political prisoners) will be released today and more released later on Republic Day," he said. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Pakistani Kashmiri Mohammad Yousaf throws a letter to his relatives across the Neelum river to Indian controlled Kashmir near Chilliana village on the Line of Control in Pakistani controlled Kashmir some 156 km south of the Pakistani capital Islamabad on January 23, 2004. (REUTERS/Amiruddin Mughal)