SRINAGAR, 11 April — A Kashmiri separatist group called a strike in Indian Kashmir for tomorrow to protest against what it called the suppression of Muslims in Palestinian areas and Afghanistan.
The strike in the state has also been called by the banned Al-Umar Mujahedeen group to condemn Israel and express support for the Palestinian cause.
Israeli troops have launched incursions into Palestinian cities and towns in a bid to halt a wave of suicide bombings.
The Israeli Army pulled out of two West Bank cities on Tuesday, but raided another village and kept a tight grip on other Palestinian-ruled areas it has occupied since a suicide bomber killed 27 people in Israel two weeks ago. “The supreme commander of Al-Umar Mujahedeen, Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar, has called for a complete shutdown on Friday to protest the subjugation of Muslims by Western forces in Palestine and Afghanistan,” an Al-Umar Mujahedeen statement said.
Zargar, a prominent Kashmiri leader and chief of Al-Umar Mujahedeen, was released at the end of 1999 by Indian authorities in exchange for the passengers of a hijacked Indian plane in Afghanistan.
“Zargar called upon Muslim countries to unite and fight against the Western onslaught on them all over the world,” the statement said. Al-Umar group, which is fighting for Kashmir’s merger with neighboring Pakistan, was banned by Indian authorities under a new anti-terrorism law which was introduced after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
Separatist violence in the state claimed another 18 lives amid shootouts between security forces and activists, police officials said yesterday. Five people, including three children, were killed by suspected activists late Tuesday in Doda district in what police sources said was an apparent attack on the homes of two informers.
“They killed two women and three children and injured four other people. The injured have been shifted to hospital for treatment. Their condition is serious,” a police spokesman said.
Another person, Abdul Rashid, was shot dead by suspected activists in Doligam village in the same district overnight, police said, adding that two brothers, suspected to be working for the security forces, were also killed in Anantnag district. One of the brothers was beheaded, they said.
Activists also opened fire at two of their former colleagues at Duroo village, 80 km south of Srinagar, killing one and injuring another. Meanwhile, Indian troops yesterday shot dead a local commander of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group near Shopian township, 50 km south of Srinagar. “His death is a setback to the group,” a police spokesman said.
Three more Lashkar activists and an Indian border guard were killed in a fierce overnight encounter in the neighboring village of Khuranpora late Tuesday, police said. Five border guard personnel, including two officers were injured in the shoot-out. Two activists and a member of the security forces died in two separate encounters elsewhere, police said.
Activists also shot dead an activist of Kashmir’s ruling National Conference party in the Bulbul Lankar locality of Srinagar. The chief minister of Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, said yesterday that a recent spurt in separatist killings proved that Pakistan was continuing to support militant groups in the region.
“Pakistani claims of having stopped support to the activists is mere eye-wash and aimed at hoodwinking world opinion,” he said. Farooq alleged the killing of seven Hindus in Udhampur district on Monday was carried-out by activists at the behest of “perpetrators of violence from across the border.” Farooq has repeatedly called for Indian military strikes on alleged militant training camps in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
“The reality is that militants are still being pushed into our area by Pakistan,” Farooq said. “This is corroborated by the continued killing of innocent people.”
