Tag Archives: Mohammed Afzal Guru

India-Pakistan tensions rise over execution

India‘s hanging of a Kashmiri man convicted in a terror attack is threatening to damage recently improved relations with longtime rival Pakistan.

India reacted angrily to a resolution adopted Thursday by Pakistan‘s National Assembly condemning the execution last month of Mohammed Afzal Guru, who was convicted in a deadly 2001 attack on India‘s Parliament. India accused its neighbor of interfering in its internal affairs.

India‘s Parliament passed a resolution of its own Friday, insisting the Pakistani assembly “desist from acts of support for extremist and terrorist elements.”

A proposed home-and-away field hockey series between the nations’ teams also was called off Friday on the advice of India‘s foreign ministry. Salman Kurshid, India‘s foreign minister, said he hopes Pakistan will “get the message.”

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Indian police search for evidence in bomb attack

Indian police investigating a dual bomb attack that killed 15 people outside a movie theater and a bus station in the southern city of Hyderabad were searching for links to a shadowy Islamic militant group with reported ties to Pakistan, an official said Friday.

Officials were examining whether the Indian Mujahideen, which is thought to have a link with militants in neighboring Pakistan, might have carried out the attack, an investigator told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal details of the probe. India‘s recent execution of an Islamic militant is being examined as a possible motive for the bombings, he said.

Police have not yet detained anyone in connection with the Thursday evening attack, the first major terror bombing in India since 2011.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said there was a general alert about the possibility of an attack somewhere in India for the past three days. “But there was no specific intelligence about a particular place,” he said as he toured the site Friday morning.

The bombs were attached to two bicycles about 150 meters (500 feet) apart in Hyderabad’s Dilsukh Nagar district, Shinde said. He said in addition to the dead, 119 others were injured.

The bombs exploded minutes apart in a crowded shopping area. The blasts shattered storefronts, scattered food and plates from roadside restaurants and left tangles of dead bodies. Passersby rushed the wounded to hospitals.

“This is a dastardly attack; the guilty will not go unpunished,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. He appealed to the public to remain calm.

Top state police officer V. Dinesh Reddy said improvised explosive devices with nitrogen compound were used in the blasts, which he blamed on a “terrorist network.”

On Friday morning, police with cameras, gloves and plastic evidence bags used pointers to gingerly look through the debris. Officials from the National Investigation Agency and commandos of the National Security Guards arrived from New Delhi to help with the investigation.

India has been under a heightened state of alert over the hanging of Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri militant nearly two weeks ago. He was executed for his involvement in a 2001 attack on India‘s Parliament that killed 14 people, including five of the gunmen.

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3-day strike begins in Indian Kashmir

Most shops and businesses are shut in Indian-controlled Kashmir after separatists called for a three-day strike to demand the return of the body of a Kashmiri man secretly executed and buried in the Indian capital.

The strike began Wednesday and authorities imposed a ban on the assembly of more than four people to prevent protests in the region.

Kashmir was rocked by violent anti-India protests after Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged in a New Delhi jail Feb. 9. He was convicted of involvement in a 2001 attack on India‘s Parliament.

Three protesters died in clashes with troops.

Many Kashmiris believe Guru did not get a fair trial and the execution’s secrecy only fuelled the anger in a region where anti-India sentiment runs deep.

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Indian authorities lift strict curfew in Kashmir

Police on Saturday lifted a strict curfew across Indian-controlled Kashmir imposed one week ago after the secret execution of a Kashmiri man in the Indian capital.

Authorities also restored mobile internet and cable television services that were blocked fearing massive protests by Kashmiris, said police officer Ashok Prasad. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the region.

Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged Feb. 9 in a New Delhi jail and buried there. Guru had been convicted of involvement in a 2001 attack on India‘s Parliament that killed 14 including five gunmen.

Many in Kashmir believe Guru did not receive a fair trial, and the secrecy with which the execution was carried out fueled anger in the region

A strict curfew has been in place since the execution, but groups of demonstrators have defied it and clashed with government forces. Three protesters have been killed and more than 100 have been detained, according to police.

Even as the curfew ended on Saturday, big shops and businesses remained closed in response to a two-day strike called by the All Parties Hurriyat conference, an umbrella organization of separatist political and religious groups, protesting the detention of more than 100 people and demanding their immediate release.

Private cars and motorbikes were back on the streets in the Kashmir Valley, but state-run and private buses stayed off the roads.

Fruit and vegetable venders and small neighborhood grocery stores also were back in business.

Insurgents have been fighting in Kashmir for more than two decades, demanding either a separate state or merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan. The region is divided between India and Pakistan and is claimed in its entirety by both.

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Strict curfew imposed in most of Indian Kashmir

Authorities have re-introduced a strict curfew across most of Indian-controlled Kashmir ahead of Friday prayers, as residents in the region simmer with anger over the secret execution of a Kashmiri man in the capital.

The restive Himalayan region was rocked by violent anti-India protests after Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged Saturday in a New Delhi jail and buried there. Guru had been convicted for his role in a deadly 2001 attack on India‘s Parliament that killed 14 including five gunmen.

Many in Kashmir believe Guru did not get a fair trial and the secrecy with which the execution was carried out only fuelled the anger in a region where anti-India sentiment runs deep.

A curfew has been in place since the execution, but groups of demonstrators have defied it and clashed with government forces. Three protesters have been killed and more than 100 have been detained, according to police.

The curfew was relaxed in some areas in recent days, but was restored ahead of Friday prayers in this Muslim majority region.

Early Friday morning, police drove through the streets of Srinagar, the region’s main city, ordering residents to stay indoors. The return of the strict curfew comes as the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella organization of separatist political and religious groups, called for a mass funeral prayer for Guru to be held Friday at a large square near Srinagar’s Martyr’s Graveyard, where hundreds of separatists and civilians killed in the region’s long-running conflict are buried.

Insurgents have been fighting in Kashmir for more than two decades, demanding either a separate state or merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan. The region is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in its entirety by both.

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Curfew eased in most parts of Indian Kashmir

Authorities have relaxed a curfew in much of Indian-ruled Kashmir after days of protests over the secret execution of a Kashmiri man convicted in an attack on India‘s Parliament.

However, the curfew remained in effect Thursday for the sixth straight day in more than a dozen places, including parts of Srinagar, Kashmir’s main city.

The region was rocked by violent anti-India protests after Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged Saturday in a New Delhi jail and buried there. Three protesters died in clashes with government forces.

Police on Thursday stopped nearly two dozen lawyers from marching in Srinagar to demand that Guru’s remains be brought to the region.

The government also directed public employees to “attend their duties without fail,” saying their identity documents would be treated as curfew passes.

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Curfew eased in parts of Indian-held Kashmir

Authorities have relaxed a curfew in parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir to let people buy rations after days of protests over the secret execution of a Kashmiri man convicted in a deadly 2001 attack on India‘s Parliament.

In some towns, residents were allowed out of their homes for two hours Wednesday to buy food and other supplies even as heavily armed troops patrolled the streets. Most of the region’s nearly 60 newspapers published Wednesday after shutting down for three days.

Manoj Panditha, a police spokesman, said the restrictions were relaxed after tensions eased in several districts across Kashmir and some neighborhoods in Srinagar, the region’s main city.

The region was hit by violent anti-India protests after Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged Saturday. Three protesters died in clashes with government forces.

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Kashmiri's hanging leads to fears of new unrest

Anger and protests over the government‘s secret execution of a Kashmiri man convicted in a deadly attack on India‘s Parliament has stirred fears the volatile region could again descend into a cycle of violence after two years of relative peace.

Kashmir has been rocked by anti-India protests, despite a rigid curfew, since Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged in New Delhi early Saturday. Three protesters have been killed so far in clashes with security forces.

Tens of thousands of troops patrolled the streets of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, confining residents to their homes.

Omar Abdullah, Indian Kashmir‘s top elected official, expressed concerns that Guru’s hanging could lead to a new round of unrest.

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2 dead in Indian Kashmir protests after man hanged

Government forces are enforcing a rigid curfew for the third straight day in Indian-controlled Kashmir after India executed a Kashmiri man convicted in a deadly 2001 attack on Parliament.

Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged in New Delhi on Saturday. Ahead of the execution, authorities ordered people in most of the Indian-held part of disputed Kashmir to remain indoors indefinitely in anticipation of anti-India protests.

Despite the curfew, hundreds of angry residents have clashed with the troops in the region.

A young boy injured in anti-India protests died in a hospital early Monday. Another protester died late Sunday.

Cable television and mobile Internet services were shut in most parts of the region on Monday.

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Indian Kashmir on edge after terror convict hanged

Most of Indian Kashmir is paralyzed as a strict curfew imposed after the execution of a Kashmiri man convicted in a deadly 2001 attack on India’s Parliament remains in effect.

Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged in New Delhi early Saturday, triggering protests across Indian Kashmir and prompting authorities to order people in most of the region to remain indoors indefinitely. Police say 23 policemen and 13 protesters were injured in Saturday’s demonstrations.

Tens of thousands of security troops are fanned out across the Himalayan region.

Cable television and mobile Internet services have been shut down in most parts of the region, and most local newspapers were not available Sunday. One major paper said police came to its offices and asked management to hold off publishing Sunday’s edition.

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