SRINAGAR, 30 October — The security forces yesterday killed an activist who had been holed up since Saturday in a mosque in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said.
Four members of the Border Security Force (BSF) entered the mosque at about 8:30 a.m. and were attacked by a grenade lobbed by the activist, who had barricaded himself in the mosque’s bathroom. Three of the BSF personnel were injured, but the fourth trooper hurled a grenade in return at the activist, killing him, the BSF’s intelligence chief said.
Security forces recovered one AK rifle from the activist, who was believed to belong to the hard-line Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad group. Bullet holes were seen at the mosque after yesterday’s two-hour operation. The mosque, in the village of Panzan, 30 km east of Srinagar, and the village had been under a tight cordon of forces since Saturday. The activist had barricaded himself inside the mosque Saturday afternoon after security forces had laid siege to Panzan on information that militants were present.
Security forces had initially stormed the mosque Sunday, but withdrew after two personnel were injured. Six people, including a girl, have been killed in Kashmir, police said yesterday. In separate incidents, three activists and a member of the security forces were killed in the northern Kupwara district, police said.
In the central Anantnag district, suspected activists abducted a pro-Indian activist and shot him dead, police said. In Srinagar, a girl was shot dead yesterday. No other details were available on the incident, which police blamed on activists.
A land mine blast was reported in the northern town of Baramulla, injuring four civilians.
Meanwhile, the security forces have foiled a plot by activists to assassinate Kashmir’s Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar, who is minister of state for external affairs, a newspaper reported yesterday.
The activists had planned to strike Farooq’s motorcade from two directions with a car and a truck each carrying four suicide bombers, as the chief minister drove into Srinagar from the airport last Wednesday, the Excelsior newspaper said, quoting security sources.
Activists had planned to kill Omar by a blast at his Delhi residence. Some of those behind the plot recently even secured an invitation for tea at the minister’s home, which they inspected to plan the attack, Excelsior said. The activists had alternatively considered ambushing the Omar as he rode his motorcycle in Srinagar, the report said.
Meanwhile, the head of a United Nations military observer group monitoring the disputed border in Kashmir said yesterday he expected tensions to rise in the Himalayan region.
"My assessment is that situation will become more tense in the time coming, not only along LoC (line of control) but also in the whole Jammu and Kashmir state," Maj. Gen. Hermann Loidolt said, referring to the rebellion in Kashmir. Loidolt is Chief of United Nations Military Observer India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) monitoring the 740-km LoC which divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. His comments came as Farooq reiterated calls for India to strike at activists’ bases which he said existed in Pakistan to train fighters for Kashmir.
"Unless you smash these breeding centers, you cannot finish terrorism in the state," Farooq said in Jammu. Loidolt read a statement to journalists on the annual shifting of the UN mission’s headquarters from a heavily-guarded office in Srinagar, to Rawalpindi in Pakistan.
"All of us are aware of the situation in Kashmir and the games both parties are playing with this tormented country. We all know there is no easy solution and especially war is absolutely no solution for the issue of Kashmir," the statement said.
