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Militants Attack Indian Army Convoy, Injure Two Soldiers

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Aug 10: Militants today made two attempts to attack Indian army convoys in North Kashmir, injuring two soldiers critically. Another Indian para-military soldier was injured in a grenade attack.

A heavily armed group of militants fired AK-47 rifles at a convoy of the Indian army's anti-counter insurgency unit near Kuligam, Lolab in the frontier district in trouble-hit Kashmir. The fire was returned by the Indian army soldiers, triggering an encounter. The exchange of fire between militants and Indian soldiers lasted for 20 minutes, during which two Indian army soldiers were critically injured. The injured soldiers were evacuated to Indian army's base hospital in the summer capital Srinagar. The doctors attending on the duo have termed the condition of one of them as "life threatening".

After the attack, the militants managed to escape. Additional Indian army personnel were rushed to the spot and they launched combing and search operations to track down the militants responsible for carrying out the attack on the Indian army convoy. No arrests were reported.

Another armed group of militants fired a volume of fire towards Indian army vehicles near Uri bus stand in North Kashmir district of Baramulla. The fire was returned by the Indian soldiers. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported in the shoot-out. The brief gunfight caused panic in the area with people running helter skelter to escape the gun shots. Normalcy in the area was restored after some time.

Militants also hurled a hand grenade towards a patrol party of Indian para-military Border Security Force (BSF) personnel near Gulshan Chowk, Bandipora in North Kashmir. The grenade exploded with a big bang, injuring a para-military soldier, who was evacuated to hospital.

After the militant attack, the Indian border guards went berserk and beat up the shopkeepers, roadside vendors and passersby. It evoked protests from the local population, who took to roads to stage anti-Indian forces slogans. The protests alleged that Indian border guards deployed in the area have let loose a reign of terror in the entire Bandipora area. They demanded that the border guards be shifted from the area.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.