Suspected Islamic militants on Tuesday killed nine Hindus and wounded two dozen others as devotees slept in tents along a Kashmir pilgrimage route, in an attack India immediately blamed on arch-rival Pakistan.
One attacker was killed when Indian troops returned fire, while others fled into surrounding forests.
Furious pilgrims at the scene chanted slogans against the Indian government for failing to ensure security for the massive annual procession to the Amarnath cave.
Blood was splattered across the ground near the tents, where an unknown number of attackers arrived at dawn, hurling hand grenades at the pilgrims before opening fire with automatic weapons, police said.
Most pilgrims were asleep when the attack began. Others had just left their tents and were washing in a nearby stream, witnesses said.
In New Delhi, Junior Home Minister I Swami said Pakistan — which India accuses of fomenting the rebellion in Kashmir ? was working to disrupt state elections due to start next month in the troubled Himalayan state.
Asked if he believed Pakistan was behind the attack, Swami said: ”No one has to think twice or doubt about that.”
Pakistan rejected Swami’s allegation ”with contempt.”
”The government of Pakistan condemns the terrorist attack on Hindu pilgrims in the Indian-occupied Kashmir which led to many deaths and a large number of injured,” the foreign office said in a statement.
President Pervez Musharraf’s government ”also rejects with contempt the remarks made by Mr I Swami… implicating Pakistan in the attack.”
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee met in New Delhi with top aides to take stock of the situation.
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani later told reporters a group called al-Mansourian had claimed responsibility for the attack.
He said the outfit was another name for the banned Pakistan-based rebel group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which India says was one of two groups that carried out a December 13 attack on its parliament.
The attack prompted nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to deploy one million troops to their common borders. India has ruled out any dialogue with Pakistan until it reins in rebels it says are crossing the disputed border into its zone of Kashmir.
Advani, who is also home minister, said the month-long pilgrimage expected to attract more than 100 000 people would continue and that state legislative elections would go ahead from September 16.
The attack occurred despite the presence of some
15 000 police and soldiers guarding the procession route to the Himalayan cave of Amarnath, which Hindus believe is the abode of the god Shiva.
Leading rebel groups had said they would not attack the pilgrimage. In a statement the All Party Hurriyat Conference, Kashmir’s main separatist alliance, condemned the incident and demanded an impartial inquiry by a international body.
Somnath Chatterjee, chairman of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), told reporters in New Delhi the Indian government was to blame for not providing adequate protection to pilgrims.
”Today… shows a complete collapse of Advani’s set-up. First you encourage them to go on the yatra (pilgrimage) and then you can’t protect them,” he said.
Kashmir’s Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, visiting the attack scene at Nunwan, some 100 kilometres southeast of the summer capital Srinagar, said the assailants were able to ”sneak in” despite the high security.
”We suspect that there may still be some people up in the hills. The hills are being searched,” Abdullah said.
Near the attack scene, security forces questioned more than 40 Kashmiri workers who take pilgrims to the cave on horseback. The horse grooms tend to be Muslims.
Jagmohan Singh, a pilgrim from New Delhi, had arrived at Nunwan base camp late on Monday after visiting the cave.
He said the pilgrims ducked for cover upon hearing gunfire, which lasted for an hour.
”One of my friends fell to the ground with a bullet injury,” he said. ”I thank my stars that I am alive.”
In separate violence on Tuesday and overnight, seven Muslim rebels, four Indian soldiers and two civilians were killed in gunbattles. At least 36 500 people have been killed in Kashmir since an Islamic separatist insurgency erupted in 1989.
Pakistan denies it gives more than moral and diplomatic support to what it terms an indigenous movement for self-determination in Kashmir. – Sapa-AFP