A bomb exploded, injuring three people, and two others were defused yesterday on the route of the first India-Pakistan bus across Kashmir ahead of its inauguration this week, as separatist rebels threatened prospective passengers to stay away.
India mounted extraordinary security and detained hundreds of people ahead of the inauguration tomorrow of the passenger bus between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.
Three civilians were injured in the explosion at Hanjivira village about 35km north of Srinagar, the summer capital of the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, an officer at the police control room said on condition of anonymity. The explosive was placed along the highway connecting Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.
The blast occurred soon after a bomb squad defused two powerful bombs placed in plastic bags along the same highway in nearby Palhalan. The bombs weighed 70kg and 60kg respectively, the officer said.
A number of Kashmiri rebel groups have issued death threats against anyone planning to travel on the buses, which they see as a publicity gimmick that will do nothing to bring their goal of independence for Kashmir. The threat was renewed yesterday.
"If you want to let the Indians succeed through your stubbornness, then let it be known that you must suffer with your own ashes and blood," said a statement faxed to reporters.
The statement was signed by four rebel groups: Al-Nasireen (The Helpers), the Save Kashmir Movement, Al-Arifeen (The Pious) and Farzandan-e-Millat (Sons of the Community). The first two are major militant groups, while the others are little-known.There was no way to independently verify the authenticity of the fax.
The trans-Kashmir road, once the region's main highway, has been closed for nearly six decades because of the enmity between India and Pakistan. Security in Indian-controlled Kashmir, already very tight, has been stepped up dramatically, with hundreds of soldiers and police deployed along the length of the 110km route the bus will take to the Line of Control.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
DEMONSTRATIONS: A protester said although she would normally sit back and wait for the next election, she cannot do it this time, adding that ‘we’ve lost too much already’ Thousands of protesters rallied on Saturday in New York, Washington and other cities across the US for a second major round of demonstrations against US President Donald Trump and his hard-line policies. In New York, people gathered outside the city’s main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans such as: “No Kings in America” and “Resist Tyranny.” Many took aim at Trump’s deportations of undocumented migrants, chanting: “No ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], no fear, immigrants are welcome here.” In Washington, protesters voiced concern that Trump was threatening long-respected constitutional norms, including the right to due process. The
RSS