Thu, Jul 21, 2005 page5

• Srinagar rebel bomb targets soldiers

  BULLS-EYE Indian Kashmir's summer capital was rocked yesterday by a massive car-bomb blast, set up by the region's main rebel group, that killed at least four soldiers

  • AFP
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  A car bomb claimed by Islamic rebels exploded in the heart of Indian Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar early yesterday, killing four soldiers and a civilian and injuring 21 other people, police and medical sources said.

  The blast came a day after the army reported a rise in rebel infiltration into the Indian zone of disputed Kashmir since Himalayan snows began melting.

  The explosion outside a school in a high-security zone was caused by a car bomb that targeted two passing security-force vehicles, Kashmir police chief Gopal Sharma said at the scene.

  

  Indian soldiers inspect the area around the wreckage of a vehicle following a bomb attack yesterday in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-held Kashmir. A suicide bomber drove his car into a military jeep, killing at least four soldiers and wounding 20 others, police and witnesses said.

  PHOTO: EPA

  "Four soldiers have died in the explosion," Sharma said.

  Doctors at Srinagar's main hospital said that a government employee was "brought dead" from the scene. Earlier, the town's police chief Syed Ahmed had said that all five dead were Indian soldiers.

  Police and the army said 17 civilians and four soldiers were injured.

  Police said despite evidence to the contrary they were investigating eyewitness claims that a car laden with explosives was driven into the back of an army vehicle, possibly by a suicide bomber.

  "It is possible that the militant driving the car might have jumped out at the last moment," said Javed Maqdoomi, inspector general of police.

  He said troops have not been able to find the body or dismem-bered parts of a suicide bomber.

  "But still we are investigating. Experts are on the scene," he said.

  The region's main rebel group Hizbul Mujahedin claimed responsibility in a telephone call to a local news agency.

  The group made no mention of a suicide bomber.

  "It was a devastating blast," said Abdul Majid, a government employee, who was passing by the area.

  "We saw an army jeep thrown on the footpath. We could see at least one dead soldier whose head had been severed. Other civilians were lying in a pool of blood."

  The area was strewn with debris from a vehicle, bullet-proof jackets and other army gear. The blast also damaged a nearby shopping center, shattering shop windows.

  Middle-aged Mohammed Salim, who was hit by shrapnel in his shoulder, could not believe he survived.

  "It was an earth-shaking blast. The electric wires above started falling on the ground creating sparks and the leaves and branches of huge Chinar trees littered the road in no time," he said.

  Two of the injured civilians were in a serious condition and a third, a middle-aged woman, was preparing to have her leg amputated, doctors said.

  Israr Ahmed, a teacher from the Burn Hall Christian missionary school near the explosion, said pupils were in class at the time and were unhurt.

  After the blast, many children ran outside in panic. Parents rushed to the school fearing their children may have been injured.

  The school management later closed the school for the day.

  Islamic militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir have waged an insurgency since 1989 and some 44,000 people have been killed, according to an official count.

  India's new army chief in Kashmir said on Tuesday more rebels had been infiltrating from the Pakistani side of the disputed region since the winter's heavy snows began melting in the past few weeks.
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