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DATE=8/1/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=KASHMIR ATTACK (L)
NUMBER=2-265022
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:   More than 20 people have been killed and at 
least 30 others wounded after Islamic militants 
attacked a site where Hindu pilgrims had gathered in 
Indian-administered Kashmir.  So far, no one has 
claimed responsibility for the attack.  V-O-A's Jim 
Teeple reports, police are blaming the attack on 
militants opposed to a cease-fire declared last week 
by the largest group of militant separatists operating 
in Kashmir.
TEXT:  The attack occurred late Tuesday in the town of 
Pahalgam, 97-kilometers south of Srinigar, the summer 
capital of India's Jammu and Kashmir State.   Police 
say a group of militants attacked a police post 
guarding a camp set up for Hindu pilgrims traveling to 
the holy Amarnath shrine in southern Kashmir.  Many of 
those killed were pilgrims who died in the crossfire 
between security forces and the militants.  
Authorities have imposed an indefinite curfew in the 
surrounding area.
The incident comes just one week after the largest 
separatist guerrilla group fighting Indian security 
forces, Hizbul Mujahadeen - declared a surprise cease-
fire.  The Indian army has matched the cease-fire 
offer -- other militant groups have condemned it and 
threatened to escalate the violence.  Speaking to 
local reporters late Tuesday, the Inspector General of 
police in Kashmir, Ashok Bhan blamed militants opposed 
to the cease-fire for the attack.
            ///  BHAN ACTUALITY ///
      Groups, who do not like peace to come back, they 
      will try to do these things.  It is quite 
      possible that some group opposed to the talks 
      indulged in this violence.
            ///   END ACTUALITY ///
Nearly a dozen separatist groups are fighting Indian 
security forces in Kashmir.  An estimated 30-thousand 
people have died over the past decade in separatist 
violence in the troubled state. India holds two-thirds 
of Kashmir and Pakistan one-third.  Both countries 
claim the entire territory.  (SIGNED)
NEB/JLT/KBK
01-Aug-2000 15:50 PM EDT (01-Aug-2000 1950 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.