10 killed, over 50 hurt as blasts rock Kashmir

By Shujaat Bukhari

JAMMU, JAN. 21. At least 10 persons were killed and 56 injured in two militancy- related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir today. The dead included two Army jawans and a young girl. A bomb also exploded outside the National Conference headquarters in Jammu early in the morning but did not cause any damage.

Reports reaching here said a powerful landmine triggered by suspected militants went off around 10 a.m. near Kreeri, around 35 km from Srinagar, smashing a State Road Transport Corporation bus coming from Kawchak village, to pieces. A contingent of 29 Rashtriya Rifles based in Watergam had boarded the bus, on its way to Pattan, a short while earlier.

Three civilians, Trilok Singh, Paramjeet Kaur and Manzoor Ahmed Khan, and two jawans died instantly while over 30 persons, including 11 army personnel, suffered injuries. The injured were taken to a hospital at Kreeri but were later shifted to Srinagar where two civilians, Trilok Singh and Surjeet Kaur, died. The condition of at least five civilians and four Army men is stated to be critical.

The Baramulla SSP, Mr. Abdul Qayoom Manhas, said the blast had created a five-foot deep crater. He confirmed the death of four civilians and two Army personnel and said the landmine could have been triggered by remote control.

In another incident, militants hurled a powerful grenade at security forces at Rajpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. The grenade, however, missed the target and exploded on the road injuring several civilians. While two persons died on the spot another person died in hospital. About 20 persons, injured in the blast, were admitted to a local hospital. Some of them were later shifted to Srinagar as their condition worsened. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the two incidents.

Many buses damaged

Earlier in the day, a bomb planted in a dustbin outside the Sher- i-Kashmir Bhavan on Jammu's Residency road, headquarters of the ruling National Conference, exploded causing damage to a number of SRTC buses parked nearby. There was no loss of life or injury. The building is in the compound of the Tourist Reception Centre from where buses ply between Srinagar and Jammu.

UNI reports:

Sources said the window panes of a car parked nearby shattered. A bus and a car were also damaged. The blast was audible in a three-km radius.

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