Rocket attacks mar celebrations in Jammu

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR, JAN. 26. Republic Day passed off peacefully in Srinagar on Wednesday while militants fired at least eight rockets in Jammu district disrupting the celebrations there. However, there was no loss of life.

Two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were killed in the Hiranagar sector early on Wednesday while five others were killed in Poonch district last evening. A strike was observed across the Kashmir Valley in response to a call given by the All-Party Hurriyat Conference.

Police sources said militants fired four rockets towards the Moulana Azad Memorial Stadium in Jammu early on Wednesday but these missed the intended target and landed in the nearby Tawi island without causing any damage. Another rocket fired from somewhere near the border, exploded harmlessly near the Jammu airport. The rockets were fired an hour before the Republic Day parade began in the stadium where the Governor, Mr. Girish Chandra Saxena, took the salute and unfurled the national flag. The Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, his ministerial colleagues and legislators were present. Tight security arrangements were in force at the venue.

In the Akhnoor sector of Jammu district, three rockets fired by militants from the border area into a security force camp at the Khour area, killed one jawan, police said. Early this morning, Army personnel killed two militants of the Lashkar-e- Taiba outfit in the Hiranagar sector and recovered three kg of RDX and ammunition from their possession. These militants, police said, planned to disrupt the Republic Day celebrations.

In Srinagar, unprecedented security arrangements helped ensure that the Republic Day celebrations passed off peacefully. Heavy deployment of forces and detailed checks of even the officers who attended the parade at Bakshi Stadium marked the celebrations. The State Works Minister, Mr. Ali Mohammad Sagar, took the salute and unfurled the national flag. All roads leading to the stadium were closed and no civilian movement allowed in the area.

In other militancy-related incidents, five infiltrators were killed by security forces when they tried to sneak into the Indian side near Shahpur in Poonch district last night. Official sources put the figure at nine killed.

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