A time bomb hidden in a fruit seller's hand cart and a grenade lobbed in a busy Kashmir market killed two people and wounded 44 in Kashmir yesterday in what police suspect was retaliation by militants for a recent crackdown.
In the first attack, a timed explosive set off a massive blast yesterday morning on the main thoroughfare in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, killing two civilians and wounding 21 others, police said.
Hours later, suspected militants hurled a grenade at paramilitary soldiers, wounding three troopers and 20 civilians in a crowded market in Anantnag town, 55km north of Srinagar, a police spokesman said on condition of anonymity. Ten of the wounded were in critical condition, police said.
The blast in Srinagar occurred on Maulana Azad Road, the wide, tree-lined avenue taken by hundreds of tourists each day to the picturesque Dal Lake boulevard, senior police officer Javed Ahmad said.
Bushes along the site, near a sprawling golf course, were uprooted and the road was strewn with leaves amid blotches of blood. Relatives of the dead wailed and beat their chests, mourning the victims.
A senior police official said the two attacks were believed to be reprisals for a Tuesday crackdown launched by security forces against Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, the region's most feared militant group. Twenty people who police said were planning to blow up the country's main stock exchange were arrested, including two who were killed when they allegedly tried to escape.
In a Srinagar hospital, Latif Ahmed, a 25-year-old taxi driver, shrieked in pain on a hospital bed, calling out for his mother as a doctor bandaged one of the wounds on his neck, chest and head. Ahmed was driving his three-wheel "autorickshaw" when the fruit cart blast occurred.
"I was driving my auto and there was a huge sound behind me. I was thrown out of the autorickshaw," Ahmed said. "Then there was only smoke. I don't know what happened after that."
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Police say separatist rebels in recent weeks have carried out attacks to scare away tourists, who are traveling to the region in the largest numbers since 1989.
However, the top militant group, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, has said it is not targeting tourists.
Tourism is a key industry in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
The region is divided between India and Pakistan. A territorial dispute over the Himalayan province and a 15-year-old insurgency by Pakistan-based Muslim militant groups is the main source of tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars since becoming independent in 1947.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS