SRINAGAR, Dec 19: Kashmir’s Hizbul Mujahideen on Wednesday announced a complete ban on militant grenade attacks in public places.

The move by the organisation comes as part of an apparent initiative by militant groups to win more public support for a rebellion that frequently claims the lives of civilian bystanders.

“There is a complete ban on grenade attacks by Hizbul and other outfits,” or fellow members of the United Jihad Council, Hizbul Mujahideen’s operations chief Gazi Misbahuddin said in a statement carried by local newspapers.

Hizbul Mujahideen, one of over a dozen rebel groups that has been fighting Indian troops since 1989, said such attacks were banned because “the movement is passing through a crucial phase and we need the utmost caution”.

The grenades regularly bounce back and explode among civilians, or otherwise provoke random retaliatory gunfire.—AFP