Flush the holy site.
Posted on 11/03/2004 6:42:24 AM PST by Michael Goldsberry
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Indian troops killed five Islamic militants in a fierce gunbattle in insurgency-hit Kashmir (news - web sites) after the rebels barricaded themselves inside a mosque, an army official said.
The militants fled to the mosque after fighting began when soldiers surrounded Khilangund village in southern Pulwama district early Wednesday, following a tipoff that rebels were sheltering there.
"We have killed all the five militants who barricaded themselves inside the mosque," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel V.K. Batra said on Wednesday. "The mosque is intact and now free of militants.
The death toll was the highest from a siege of a mosque by security forces since 1995 in the Himalayan state, where a revolt has raged against New Delhi's rule for 16 years.
Batra said the militants, who belonged to an unknown rebel group, were gunned down by troops backed by sharpshooters and that the commanding officer suffered minor injuries in the heavy firing.
The soldiers had urged the militants to surrender but the rebels answered each appeal "by opening fire," Batra said.
Militants running away from Indian security forces often take refuge in mosques and shrines, putting authorities in a quandary over whether to risk damaging the holy site by flushing them out, or letting them go.
Usually, authorities try to drive the militants out of the mosques but many have been damaged in the process.
In May 1995, security forces killed 17 militants in a mosque in Chrara-e-sharif in central Kashmir after a siege lasting two months. The shrine was destroyed in the battle.
There has been no lull in violence in Kashmir despite peace moves by nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to settle their bitter dispute over the territory, which each hold in part but claim in full.
At least 40,000 people have died in Indian Kashmir since the rebels launched their insurgency in 1989. Separatists say the toll is at least twice as high.
But...but, the mosque is Kings-X!
"Indian troops shoot dead five Islamic militants"
That's a good start, don't stop there!
Flush the holy site.
They must be Shi'ites..
LOL!!
Raze the mosque, bulldoze the foundation, salt the ground.
Go, India!
The news just keeps getting better.
& what exactly will you do when India's 138 million odd Muslims(2nd largest in the world) respond to that??Most of India's muslims tend to mind their own business & are more managable than the wackos in the ME & Pakistan-razing down a mosque would be the ideal way to p*** off most of them.If im not mistaken,the Indian army or the border security force have a policy of using Muslim soldiers or regiments with lots of Muslims(like the Jammu & Kashmir light infantry) to storm mosques.Many such brave soldiers have died sending these Pakis to their virgins.
Good shooting guys!!
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