Militant leader killed in Kashmir
By Charmaine Lopez,WNS South Asia Bureau Chief
SRINAGAR - Thousands of Kashmiris thronged to the funeral Tuesday of a top Islamic militant leader killed in a fierce pre-dawn gunbattle in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. Suhail Fazal was a divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and topped the list of Kashmir's most-wanted militants. His death was seen by Indian security forces as a major success in their anti-militant campaign in Kashmir. Fazal was gunned down early Tuesday in the Baba Mohalla area of Bejibehara, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Srinagar, according to Col. A.K. Mathur, a spokesman for the Indian army. Troops cordoned off the area after receiving a tip that Fazal might be there, Mathur said. Fazal fired numerous shots at the troops and kept changing location, he said, but was located and killed. Fazal's death, he said, is "a major breakthrough, as the militant commander had been responsible for scores of killings and attacks on security forces in south Kashmir Anantnag district."
According to the Associated Press, police said nine people were wounded, two seriously, when suspected militants threw a hand grenade at a bus carrying Indian tourists in the village of Tangmarg, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Some 3,000 people converged on Fazal's home village of Jablipora for his funeral. Jablipora is some 45 kilometers (27 miles) south of Srinagar. Anti-India sentiment runs high in Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state. Separatists have accused India and its military of repressive practices and discrimination. Police launched an operation in Bejibehara after a tip that Fazal was there, according to reports from the AP. An intense gunfight broke out after he was challenged, Lohia said.
Later Tuesday, Brig. S.K. Singh, commander of the Indian army's counterinsurgency wing, told reporters that Fazal's killing was a "severe blow" to the Hizbul Mujahideen. Also, late Tuesday the wife of a former Hizbul Mujahideen leader was shot and critically wounded by unknown gunmen in her Srinagar home, said Farook Ahmed, a senior police officer. Dr. Shamima Badroo is the widow of Abdul Majid Dar, the militant leader who was mysteriously killed after declaring a short-lived cease-fire with India in 2000. India accuses Pakistan of funding and training the militants in the Pakistani-controlled portion of Kashmir, which is divided between the two countries but claimed in entirety by both. Islamabad denies the charge, saying it only gives moral and diplomatic support to the rebels.
posted by wnsworld @ 10:18 PM
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