A fierce gunbattle between Indian security forces and Kashmiri Muslim rebels holed up in a hotel in Srinagar continued for a second day yesterday, with six people killed so far and 22 injured.
Police and witnesses said three policemen, two militants and a civilian have died since the shootout began on Wednesday.
Officials said two police were also missing, while 16 commandos and six civilians have been injured.
PHOTO: AP
"A second militant has been killed as well. And most probably there is a third present in the area," federal police spokesman Vishal, who only uses one name, said.
The spark
The fighting started midday Wednesday when militants armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and grenades opened fire on security forces from a hotel overlooking a police base in Srinagar, Kashmir's commercial hub and a hotbed of insurgent activity.
Fighting was intense early yesterday, as armed police attempted to flush out the militants after first clearing the surrounding area of terrified residents and shopkeepers.
The first militant was killed when he jumped out of the window in attempt to escape and was shot immediately.
The second was killed while making a dash across the street while firing at police.
Security forces managed to enter the New Standard Hotel and were searching the premises room by room, Vishal said.
Police were also combing adjoining buildings to ensure no rebels were hiding there, he added.
By midday yesterday, shooting had subsided and police said they were confident of quickly completing their clean-up operations. They also scheduled a press briefing later in the day.
Seeds of insurgency
Attacks by Islamic rebels on Indian army, police and paramilitary camps have been common in Kashmir since a Muslim insurgency began in the region in 1989.
The insurgency, which was launched to oppose Indian rule in Kashmir, has so far left more than 44,000 people dead.
The al-Mansurian militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the latest attack on the police camp, which also houses a Hindu temple.
The group also claimed responsibility for a May 21 attack on a pro-India rally which killed seven.
India says al-Mansurian is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, an outlawed Pakistan-based group fighting New Delhi's rule in Kashmir which police allege helped stage July's Mumbai train bombings that killed 186 people.
Indian Kashmir has also been rocked by violent protests against the planned hanging on Oct. 20 of Mohammed Afzal Guru, an Indian Kashmiri man convicted of conspiracy in a December 2001 attack on parliament.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not