Kashmir insurgents threaten heavy bombing campaign

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From staff and wire reports

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Thousands of police in India are on alert after the head of a Kashmiri separatist group told CNN that his group is ready to launch the biggest bombing campaign India has seen in years.

The Hezb-ul Mujahedeen claimed responsibility for two recent bomb attacks in Srinagar that killed 12 and injured 26. Syed Salahuddin, the leader of the Pakistan-based separatist militant group, said the pace of bombings would accelerate, blaming India for the breakdown of recent talks and a cease-fire that fell apart after 15 days.

VIDEO CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra looks at Indian reaction to the recent attacks. Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     RESOURCES Background on Kashmir     GALLERY Kashmir Gallery     MESSAGE BOARD India-Pakistan relations     QUICK VOTE Should Pakistan crack down on Kashmiri separatist groups who espouse violence? Yes No View Results

The group called off its cease-fire with the Indian government on Tuesday after government negotiators refused to include Pakistan in peace negotiations.

Salahuddin's comments were first published by Pakistan's Urdu-language daily Jang, and on Friday he told CNN that he stands by published comments that his group will launch the bombing campaign.

"In a day or two we will launch the biggest bombardment, not seen in the last 10 years," Salahuddin told the newspaper. "India will have to pay a heavy price for rejecting the cease-fire."

Jang quoted Salahuddin as saying the bombing would begin in a day or two.

Many Indians angered over killings

Many Indians want their government to get tougher with the militants, and the death of a journalist in Thursday's bombing has caused outrage across the country.

For its part, the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen says it never intended to kill Pradeep Bhatia, a photographer who was among the first to reach the scene of a grenade blast in Kashmir Thursday. He was taking photographs when the second, larger bomb exploded, killing him and 11 police and security officers.

The Hezb-ul Mujahedeen has apologized for his death, but thousands of Indians expressed their anger by showing up for his cremation. In Srinagar, shops and businesses were closed after a pro-government militant group called for a two-day strike to protest the attack.

"... we have further beefed up security and intensified patrols in the city and in other major towns," an Indian security official told Reuters in the summer capital of the insurgency-racked state.

The federal government said it has also asked all Indian states to ensure stringent security measures ahead of Tuesday's independence day celebrations.

India blames Pakistan for rebels

An Islamic insurrection has raged for 11 years in Kashmir, a border region claimed by nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, claiming the lives of some 25,000 people. Muslim militants want Kashmir to break away from India and remain independent or merge with Pakistan.

The Hezb-ul Mujahedeen is one of the largest and best-armed of the Islamic groups fighting for Kashmiri independence.

The Indian government has blamed Pakistan for training and funding separatist rebels. Pakistan has said it is in sympathy with the Kashmiri rebels, but denies any of India's claims.

Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, a region where India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

At least three pro-India militant groups are helping Indian security forces combat the insurgency in which more than 30,000 people have died since it began at the end of 1989.

CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra, Time Magazine reporter Hannah Bloch and Reuters contributed to this report.

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