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SRINAGAR, July 30: Three Indian soldiers and two Hindu pilgrims were among nine people killed in occupied Kashmir during a 24-hour period beginning Monday midnight.
Mujahideen ambushed the soldiers while they were conducting a hunt for the freedom fighters in Mehroot village, Poonch district, some 225kms west of held Jammu. An Indian army captain and two policemen were killed in the ambush.
Indian troops launched a massive manhunt for the Mujahideen.
The Indian army claimed killing two Mujahideen in a clash at Kupwara, 70kms north of Srinagar.
Another freedom fighter was killed by troops at Dooru, 60kms south of Srinagar in the Anantnag district, police said.
Police also said unidentified men shot dead a civilian at Vilgam in the same district.
PILGRIMS ATTACKED: Two people, including a Hindu pilgrim, were killed and four devotees wounded on Tuesday when unidentified men hurled a grenade at them during a pilgrimage in occupied Kashmir, police said.
The victims were in a taxi along the pilgrimage route. It is the first attack on the month-long Amarnath pilgrimage, which has drawn thousands of Hindu devotees under unprecedented security for this year’s event.
“The driver and a pilgrim died on the spot and four other pilgrims in the car were injured,” a police official said.
The attack took place at Lagbal, 40kms from Pahalgam, the base camp for the pilgrimage, which began on July
19. Pilgrims visit the shrine in the Himalayas to worship an ice form they believe represents the Hindu god Lord Shiva.—Reuters\AFP
