Posted on 3/5/2003, 5:44:30 PM by swarthyguy
SRINAGAR, Mar 4: A group of four militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba have died due to heavy snowfall when their hideout collapsed in the Pir Panjal foothills in south Kashmir during last night. Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen, believed to be militants, have killed four civilians in south Kashmir since last evening and left a CPI(M) activist critically wounded this evening.
Informed sources in south Kashmir told EXCELSIOR that a group of Lashkar-e-Toiba militants was putting up at the Kotha of one Rustum Tantray in Antak Behak, situated in the Hapatnar area in the foothills of Pir Panjal. Due to heavy snowfall, the structure gave way and collapsed. Though fate of the house-owner and his family members was not known immediately, reports said that four militants were buried alive under the thick mass of snow and the debris. Their dead bodies and weapons were recovered today. Two of them have been identified as Fayaz Ahmed Bhat of Nagbal and Furqan alias Abi Ma’az of Pakistan.
Sources said that two unidentified persons appeared at Beegam village, in Kulgam area of Anantnag district, late this evening. They fired several gunshots on a CPI(M) activist, namely Ghulam Rasool Sheikh S/o Abdul Majeed Sheikh and left him critically injured. As the gunmen, suspected to be local cadres of Hizbul Mujahideen, vanished into the dark, the mainstream political activist was rushed to hospital for treatment.
Earlier, during last night, another group of unidentified gunmen appeared at Yaripora village, in Kulgam, and barged into the residence of one Abdul Khaliq Mir. Without any questioning, they opened indiscriminate gunfire, killing the 30-year-old unmarried daughter of the house-owner, Zaitoona, on spot. Her 70-year-old mother, Fatima, sustained injuries in the shootout. She was rushed to Srinagar and admitted at Bone & Joint Hospital, Barzullah.
Residents believe local cadres of Hizbul Mujahideen responsible for the shootout. However, no militant outfit had claimed responsibility for the two Kulgam incidents till late tonight.
In yet another gory incident in south Kashmir, unidentified gunmen captured a former militant, namely Ghulam Mohammad Magray of Nawpora when he was returning to his home on Pulwama-Nawpora road last evening. He was immediately shot dead. After divorcing militancy, Magray was running a small business.
Unidentified gunmen, believed to be militants, had reportedly ambushed a selection grade constable of District Police Pulwama, namely Mohammad Yusuf Hajam S/o Habibullah Hajam R/o Chillipora, Shopian, when he was going to his home from DPL Pulwama last week. This morning, his dead body was recovered from Imamsahib village in Shopian. Reports said that after severe physical torture, militants had chopped off his head. Officials said that Hajam had worked in the counter-insurgent Special Operations Group (SOG), which has been demobilised by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s Government last week.
Reports from south Kashmir added that unidentified gunmen, believed to be local militants, kidnapped a 32-year-old farmer, Sharif-ud-din Bhat S/o Ghulam Mohammad Bhat R/o Sonbrari, Kokernag, and later shot him dead near Chhambiar village in Kokernag.
Sorry, I couldn't help thinking about Crate & Barrel.
it must be Wednesday
Srinagar: The Hurriyat Conference is likely to send a letter to Bill Clinton to be a mediator following his suggestion that Irish model be followed to solve the Kashmir problem.
Hurriyat sources today said after a meeting of its executive that this would be part of the 24-party conglomerate's major diplomatic exercise to press for a dialogue on the Kashmir issue. ...
Umer Farooq said Clinton's suggestion was worth considering. Another former U S President Jimmy Carter, he claimed, was also ready to help in resolution of the issue. Some members of Carter Institute had been trying to visit Kashmir to take an on-the-spot view of the situation, he added. full story
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