Title: Army major killed,
Kashmir mosque under siege
Author: Mukthar Ahmad
in Srinagar
Publication: Rediff
on Net
Date: March 26, 2000
An army major and a solider
have been killed in an exchange of fire with militants hiding in a mosque
in Handwara district, 80 kilometres from Srinagar.
A defence spokesman said
that three militants were also killed when they tried to flee the shelter.
The army personnel have
the mosque in Dodipora Chek village, which falls in the border district
of Kupwara, under siege now.
A senior police official
told rediff.com that the troops had cordoned off the mosque late Saturday
night. They came under automatic fire from the militants inside. Rashtriya
Rifles Major Ravinder and a soldier died and three other personnel were
injured, they added.
Civilian sources said
that intermittent firing still continued. The area was tense. Senior security
personnel, including the police, were on the scene.
"The troops have been
asking the militants to surrender but they keep firing in reply," the sources
said.
Meanwhile, Union Home
Minister L K Advani, who, along with Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah
and Governor Girish Chandra Saxena, visited the Chatti Singhpora where
35 Sikh villagers were shot dead, has assured the minority community that
the government would provide them adequate security.
There would be a security
ring around such vulnerable villages now, he said, which would comprise
the state police and the paramilitary with backing from the army.
"Their sacrifice won't
go waste," Advani said.
He added about the brain
behind the killings, "They have challenged the brave and will have to face
consequences. We will frustrate their designs."
The home minister said
that Kargil, the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight and now the killing
of the Sikhs have isolated Pakistan from the world.
His government, he reiterated,
was "pursuing a pro-active policy to combat militancy in Kashmir."
The Sikhs, for their
part, raised slogans and repeatedly told the home minister, "We will not
stay here."
In another development,
two militants were killed in a gun battle with the Border Security Force
in Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Saturday night.
In Pattan, a police spokesman
said, militants hurled grenades and fired rockets at a police station.
There were no casualties, but the station building has been damaged.