Indian police today killed a third militant believed to be behind overnight violence at a temple in Kashmir as the government linked the attack to the release in Pakistan of a hardline rebel leader.
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Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers display seized ammunition and explosives, in a camp at Panthachowk, today.
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Police overnight gunned down two militants who had entered the Raghunath temple and the adjoining smaller Hindu shrine in the Indian Kashmir winter capital Jammu and sprayed devotees with automatic gunfire, killing 10 civilians and two policemen.
After dawn, police fought a third rebel in running gunbattles through the streets of Jammu, deserted after the authorities had imposed a curfew, before cornering him and shooting him dead.
In New Delhi, Indian Deputy Prime Minister Mr Lal Krishna Advani blamed the attack on the Islamic extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and said a dramatic upsurge of savagery in Indian Kashmir in recent days took place after Lashkar's leader, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, was released in Pakistan.
"After his release, he vowed to continue the Jihad in Jammu and Kashmir and gave a public call to step up terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir," Mr Advani said.
"The upsurge "makes one speculate whether it is a mere coincidence that this spate of terrorist incidents has occurred just when the process of government formation has been completed in Pakistan," Mr Advani told parliament.
AFP