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Kashmir assassination attempt
04/07/2003 19:15 - (SA)
Srinagar, India - A school teacher was killed and 27 people were injured on Friday when suspected Islamic rebels opened fire and launched grenades in a bid to assassinate a state minister in Indian Kashmir, officials said.
Rural Development Minister Peerzada Mohammed Sayeed required hospital care for minor injuries to his leg after militants attacked him with grenades at the village of Larnu in his home constituency of Kokernag, in the central district of Anantnag, an official statement said.
Ali Mahmood, the head of a local school, was killed in the attack, a police official said.
Sixteen of the 27 people injured were in serious condition and had to be airlifted to Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar for treatment, the statement added.
Five injured people were admitted to Anantnag district hospital, while six were discharged after treatment.
Sayeed serves in the cabinet of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who assumed power after September-October elections on promises to bring a "healing touch" to the province.
The Kashmir chief minister issued a statement condemning the attack and calling it the "handiwork of enemies of peace."
"The government was determined to address the problems of the people and continue with its agenda for restoration of complete peace in the state," he added.
Indian Kashmir is in the throes of a 14-year insurgency against Indian rule which has left dead more than 38 000 people, according to Indian security figures, or twice that according to separatists and Pakistan.
The region is divided between India and Pakistan, which have been moving to ease tensions since April.
- AFX
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