DATE=11/4/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=KASHMIR ATTACK (L)
NUMBER=2-255812
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Troops in Indian-administered Kashmir on
Thursday closed down much of downtown Srinigar - the
summer capital of India's Jammu and Kashmir state -
following the first attack ever by Muslim militants on
army headquarters. At least seven Indian soldiers and
two militants were killed in the attack, which ended
early Thursday morning. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from
our New Delhi bureau, Indian Army commanders say the
believe the prime target of the attack was a senior
Army spokesman who directed media operations for the
Indian Army during this year's Kargil conflict.
Text: By all accounts the dramatic assault on army
headquarters caught the garrison by surprise. The
militant organization Lakshar-e-Toiba, which is
fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, claimed
responsibility saying the assault was the work of a
"suicide squad."
Indian army commanders say the attack was targeted at
Major P-Puroshotam, perhaps the Indian army's best
known spokesman, because he worked closely with
journalists earlier this year - arranging trips to the
Kargil battlefields and interviews with senior
commanders.
The militants assaulted the center of Indian rule in
Kashmir -- first hurling a grenade which killed a
sentry at the main gate of the army's 15th Corps
Command -- which oversees all military operations in
Kashmir - and then scaling a high wall to reach Major
Puroshotam's office, where he and several aides were
meeting with local news photographers. Brigadier
Tripath Singh, who worked closely with Major
Puroshotam, says his colleague had just enough time to
tell the photographers to hide in his restroom before
the militants burst into his office and killed him and
five aides.
/// SINGH ACTUALITY ///
That was the time when these people came inside
and shot Major Puroshottam at point-blank range.
They shot the other people also, and the
correspondents (photographers) they were inside
the toilet at that time, Major Puroshotam had
told them to go inside.
/// END ACTUALITY //
It took garrison forces several hours to secure the
area and several headquarters buildings were reported
heavily damaged in the fighting. The bodies of two
militants have been recovered. There are unconfirmed
reports that one and perhaps two militants escaped.
The attack is the latest in a series of assaults that
Muslim militants have carried out in recent months
against Indian security installations in Kashmir. It
came just hours after the senior army commander in
Kashmir said his troops had concluded a successful
campaign against militant hideouts.
The attack also came as thousands of supporters of
Lakshar-e-Toiba and other militant organizations began
a three day meeting in Pakistan. India accuses
Pakistan of directly helping insurgent groups inside
its territory. Pakistan denies the allegation, saying
it only provides diplomatic and moral support to
militants seeking to end Indian rule in Kashmir.
(Signed)
NEB/JLT/KL
04-Nov-1999 09:58 AM EDT (04-Nov-1999 1458 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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