16 killed in Kashmir violence

Published June 24, 2003

SRINAGAR, June 23: Sixteen people were killed and 40 wounded in occupied Kashmir on Monday and Sunday night— one of the worst 24 hours of violence since Pakistan and India began a tentative peace process in April.

At least two civilians died and 36 were wounded on Monday when unidentified men threw a grenade at a crowded market in Shopian, south of Srinagar, a paramilitary official said.

It was the third grenade attack in four days. Thirty people were injured in two grenade attacks on Friday.

Police alleged militants shot dead three members of a family in a village near the Line of Control (LoC) to the northwest of Srinagar. A man from the same family was seriously wounded.

Six civilians and five militants have also been killed in separate incidents in the past 24 hours in the held state. —Reuters