Indian Troops Hurt in Kashmir Blast

10/07/2005| IslamWeb

Three Indian troops were injured in a grenade attack in Indian Kashmir yesterday, while a bomb disposal squad defused three landmines on a road the state's chief minister was set to use.

Three members of India's Border Security Force (BSF) were injured when suspected rebels attacked them with hand grenades in Sopore town, 50km north of the summer capital Srinagar, police said. The area was later sealed off and a search was launched for suspected militants.

BSF troops recovered three landmines on key highway in the Nihalpora village, 27km north of Srinagar.

"The bombs were defused by bomb disposal squads later," police said.

Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was scheduled to travel on the road, which links Srinagar to the northern town of Baramulla, to take part in a public function at the village of Kreeri.

More than 44,000 people have died by official count since the eruption of insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir in 1989.

Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan hold Kashmir in parts and claim it in full. They have fought two of their three wars over control of the region.

PHOTO CAPTION

Indian Border Security Force men guard a section of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway near Nandnai, in the northern Jammu and Kashmir state, while vehicles carrying Amarnath pilgrims make their way to base camp, July 9, 2005. (REUTERS)