Militants blew up a bus carrying Indian soldiers and their families, killing at least 28 people in the bloodiest attack in Kashmir since the peace process between India and Pakistan began in January.
The Indian army said a landmine had been planted under a small bridge along the highway out of Srinagar, the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, and as the bomb went off the fuel tank of the bus caught fire.
Television pictures showed piles of twisted metal near a giant crater on the highway that passes through the Himalayan foothills. Blood-stained shoes, clothes and lunch boxes lay on the ground.
”There was a loud explosion which shook the earth. When I turned back, a bus was in flames,” said Mohammad Subhan, a porter.
India’s cabinet condemned the attack. Ram Vilas Paswan, a minister, told reporters: ”The cabinet passed a resolution condemning the attack in Kashmir and issued a message of condolence.”
India has been trying to contain an insurgency in its part of Kashmir for nearly 15 years. Armed groups have been fighting for the region’s independence or its merger with Pakistan. The rebellion in India’s only Muslim-majority state has claimed more than 65 000 lives.
On Sunday night reports said that Hizbul Mujahideen, a militant organisation, had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Indian army has assassinated many of the group’s leaders in recent weeks and observers said the bombing bore all the hall-marks of a revenge killing.
Pakistan has clamped down on militant groups operating from its soil since January, when New Delhi and Islamabad resolved to settle their disputes, including Kashmir, through talks.
The result has been reduced numbers of guerrillas crossing the line of control, the de facto border between the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir.
Sundeep Waslekar, director of the Strategic Foresight Group, a Bombay thinktank, said: ”Militant groups had said they would wait six months to assess the situation and if they found little had changed they would return the violence. Unfortunately meaningful change in Kashmir will take a little longer than that. Both governments understand that.”
India’s new prime minister, Manmohan Singh, took up the baton on Sunday, with a 20-minute telephone conversation with Pakistan’s president Pervez Musharraf, who congratulated him on his election.
”Both leaders expressed the desire for continuation of dialogue to resolve all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir,” said a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson.
Talks on confidence-building measures including the nuclear issue have been rescheduled for next month. – Guardian Unlimited Â