Violence escalates on first day of Ramadan in Jammu and Kashmir
IRNA
Srinagar, Oct 28, IRNA -- At least 25 civilians were injured, some of the critically, when unknown persons lobbed a grenade at a crowded telephone billing counter while two soldiers were killed and eight hurt in a blast in Kashmir on Tuesday. Reports said, the grenade fell near a long line of subscribers at a billing counter at 1 p.m. (local time) in Srinagar`s main telephone exchange. The injured, which included many women, were rushed to nearby hospitals by volunteers. The exchange is located in the heart of the city and is heavily-guarded. The conditions of many of the injured was said to be critical. Kashmir has witnessed a series of grenade explosions over the last fortnight. In most of cases civilians have become targets of these attacks as all of them took place in the busy market places. Today`s attack one of the worst came on the day when Muslims began the fasting month of Ramadan and hours after a hard-line militant group declared it is intensifying attacks on Indian troops. A person calling himself Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) spokesman told local newspapers that the operations will continue for a month and warned civilians to stay away from military installations and bunkers which dot the city. However no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for today`s attack. In past also no group has ever owned attacks where civilians became targets. In a separate incident at least two Indian soldiers were killed and nine wounded when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device at Khilani on the Jammu-Doda highway today afternoon. The new escalation has also come at a time when New Delhi is gearing up to begin talks with main separatist alliance the Hurriyat Conference in the coming weeks. Militants and hardliners on both sides oppose these talks. IND/AH/210 End
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