SRINAGAR/JAMMU, Indian-Ruled Kashmir (Islamweb & Agencies) - Occupation forces in the Indian-Ruled violence-racked Kashmir state fanned out across the mountainous region on Monday another futile bid to track down Resistance men who allegedly shot villagers dead during the weekend.But despite the massive search and heightened security, Resistance men triggered off a string of explosions in the strife-torn region which killed another person and injured 21 others.
Eight people including five paramilitary occupation soldiers were wounded when a booby-trapped bicycle exploded in the heart of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, occupation authorities said.
A Pakistan-based Resistance group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed responsibility for the blast. Twelve people were injured when suspected Resistacne men lobbed a grenade at a bus stand in Bandipura town, 36 miles north of Srinagar.
One civilian was killed and another was wounded in a land mine explosion in north Kashmir.
Three people have been killed in separate shootouts in the valley since Sunday evening.
Police said on Sunday that 15 Hindus were dragged out of their homes in a remote area of southern Kashmir on Saturday by suspected Resistance men and shot dead. They said the Resistance seized the villagers from their homes in Chirji village, Doda district, 165 miles from Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir, separated the children from the adults and opened fire.
An Indian official said authorities had found the bodies of four people who were among seven Hindus kidnapped by the Resistance from Baldader village in a separate incident in the same district.
The escalating attacks follow the collapse of an India-Pakistan summit that was largely focused on resolving the bitter Jammu and Kashmir territorial dispute.
VOW TO STEP UP ATTACKS
Police said nearly 90 people, including 44 Resistance men and 30 civilians, have been killed in the six days since the summit ended and the Resistance vowed to step up attacks in the region. That was on top of nearly 90 killed in violence during the four-day summit period.
A team of federal officials arrived in Jammu to review security following the weekend killings and extra troops were sent to Chirji village, one of the Indian officials said.
Nearly a dozen Resistance groups are fighting Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir and some 30,000 people are estimated to have been killed since the armed Resistance began in late 1989.
The Himalayan region has been the cause of two of three wars between nuclear-capable India and Pakistan and the foes were unable to even agree on a joint statement at last week's summit.
Indian policemen carry a coffin containing the body of Deputy Superintendent Parveen Kumar at Nehru Helipad in Srinagar, July 21, 2001. Kumar and eleven other people, including one policeman and three pilgrims, were killed in Indian-Ruled Kashmir on Saturday when suspected Resistance men attacked a route along which thousands of Hindus were trekking to a shrine. REUTERS/Fayaz Kabli
- Jul 21 6:37 AM ET