Bomb blast, shootouts claim lives in Kashmir

In this story: Bomb smuggled into police academy Six die in car attack Reasons for heightened violence RELATED STORIES, SITES

From CNN's New Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra

SRINAGAR, India (CNN) -- A bomb went off in a police training academy Friday near Srinagar in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, killing one policeman and injuring at least 26 officers. Earlier, a prominent Shiite Muslim leader and five others were killed when an explosive device went off near his car.

It was the latest violence to rock Kashmir. Twelve people -- including Indian soldiers, separatist militants and civilians -- died in shootouts in the region.

India, which controls 45 percent of the Kashmir region, accuses Pakistan of arming and training Kashmiri separatists. Islamabad denies the charges.

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Pakistan rules over a third of Kashmir and China the rest.

Bomb smuggled into police academy

Police say militants smuggled a bomb inside the heavily guarded Indian training academy, located just outside Srinagar. The academy trains police in counter-insurgency methods against militants.

Of the 26 officers injured in the bombing, 18 are believed to be seriously injured and have been rushed to hospitals.

Six die in car attack

Agha Syed Mehdi, who supported continued Indian control of Kashmir, was killed while traveling in his car -- along with his driver and four bodyguards -- at Kanihama, which is 15 kilometers (nine miles) west of Srinagar. Police said militants detonated an explosive device as the car passed through the area.

Two Kashmiri militant groups claimed responsibility for the landmine explosion. Hizb-ul-Momineen and a lesser-known group, Lashkar-e-Karbala, each called newspaper offices in Srinagar to make the claims.

The Hizb-ul-Momineen militant group, mostly dominated by Shiite Muslims, is fighting for Kashmir's merger with neighboring Pakistan.

Hundreds of people in Shiite-dominated areas of the valley took to the streets in protest at the killing of their leader, police said. Protesters in Zadibal area of Srinagar pelted vehicles with stones and disrupted traffic.

Earlier, four Indian soldiers and four separatist militants were killed in a daylong gun battle at Wathora village, 21 kilometers (13 miles) west of the city.

Elsewhere, two militants and two civilians were killed in separate shootouts, police said.

Reasons for heightened violence

Officials say separatist violence has increased in the restive Himalayan state this year, particularly after a frontline militant group, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, ended a brief cease-fire in August.

Police also attribute the stepped-up violence to the onset of winter, which has brought separatist rebels down from their mountain hideouts.

Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, where authorities say more than 30,000 people have been killed in nearly 11 years of separatist violence.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
Indian Prime Minister's Office
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Kashmir Times
Press Trust of India
Army in Kashmir: The Truth About Kashmir
Kashmir Information Network

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