Bombs exploded yesterday during Independence Day celebrations in India's portion of Kashmir despite tight security in the region, police said. No deaths or serious injuries were reported.
One of the Pakistan-based militant groups fighting to wrest Kashmir from India claimed responsibility for the attack. In India's capital, New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanded that Pakistan dismantle terror camps on its side of Kashmir.
Three paramilitary soldiers suffered minor injuries when the two bombs exploded in quick succession 100m from the main entrance of Srinagar's Bakshi stadium, said police officer Muneer Khan.
Another bomb exploded in the village of Pattan, 35km north of Srinagar, but injured no one, police said.
Hezb-ul Mujahedeen, Kashmir's biggest Islamic militant group, claimed responsibility for the Srinagar blasts in a telephone call to a local news agency, Current News Service.
Packed stadium
At the time of the blasts, thousands of people were inside the Srinagar stadium to attend celebrations marking India's 58 years of independence. The bombs exploded an hour before Jammu-Kashmir's top elected official, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, reached the venue.
Separatists fighting for Kashmir's independence or its merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan had called for a boycott of yesterday's celebrations.
India accuses Pakistan of aiding the militants, who run training camps on the Pakistani side of Kashmir. Islamabad denies the charge.
The nuclear rivals both claim all of the divided Himalayan region and have fought two wars over it. Their relations have, however, improved in recent years after Pakistan promised to crack down on the militants.
But Singh complained yesterday that Pakistan wasn't doing enough.
"Pakistan has put some checks on the activities of terrorists. However, it is not possible to achieve success through halfhearted efforts," Singh said in his Independence Day address.
"It is necessary that the entire infrastructure of terrorism is totally dismantled," he said.
He also said that the government remained open to talks with separatist groups from Kashmir, but warned that they must give up violence.
"If violence continues, then our response too will be hard," he said.
Yesterday's blasts came even though hundreds of thousands of security forces were deployed across India to prevent attacks.
Security
In New Delhi, sharpshooters took positions on high-rise buildings and police frisked thousands of people who gathered at the city's historic Red Fort to watch Singh hoist the tricolor national flag.
Security also was tight in the northeastern India, where separatist insurgents staged a series of attacks last week.
No violence was reported there yesterday.
RSS