SRINAGAR, May 28 (1991): Acid rain caused by burning oil wells in Kuwait could have disastrous environmental consequences for the pristine Himalayan mountains and valleys of India's Jammu and Kashmir state, a government report said on Tuesday. Enormous amounts of acids and hydrocarbons have rained down on the state since March when Iraqi troops retreating from Kuwait set fire to more than 500 oil wells, said the report by the state's environment department. The report recommends that the state government should seek...

SRINAGAR, May 28 (1991): Jammu and Kashmir state should prepare a case seeking compensation for acid rain caused by burning Kuwaiti oil wells, a government report said. Enormous amounts of acids and hydrocarbons have rained down on the state since March when retreating Iraqi troops set fire to more than 500 oil wells in Kuwait, said the report by the Jammu and Kashmir environment department. "The direct effect of the acid pollution may not cause any deaths," it said. But it could lead to "disastrous environmental...

ISLAMABAD, May 26 (1991): Three people were killed when Indian forces opened fire across the United Nations-monitored ceasefire line in Kashmir, an official of the Azad (free) Kashmir government said on Sunday. The villagers were working in their fields in the Neelam Valley on Saturday when Indian forces fired on them, he said. Three people died instantly, two were injured. Exchanges of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops across the control line that divides disputed Kashmir have become more common in the 18...

SRINAGAR, May 17 (1991): A top police official escaped unhurt but one of his guards was killed in an attack by Kashmiri militants, police said on Friday. State police chief Kanwar Rameshwar Singh's car was ambushed in Pampore township outside Srinagar, summer capital of India's Jammu and Kashmir state. Singh escaped but one of his guards was killed while two other guards were injured, police said. Two other people have been killed since Wednesday night in continuing secessionist violence across the Kashmir...

SRINAGAR, May 14 (1991): At least two civilians were killed in crossfire on Tuesday when separatist militants fought a street battle with Indian security forces in the southern Kashmir township of Kulgam, police said. Kulgam residents said that after the battle security forces set fire to several houses. Police said the fires were caused by the militants' explosives. Police said two militants were killed near the India-Pakistan border in Kashmir in a clash with Indian troops. The centre of separatist protests and...

KARACHI, May 12 (1991): Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Sunday India must allow the people of Kashmir to decide their future at the ballot box. "The writing on the wall should be read by the Indians now," Sharif told reporters, referring to a Moslem revolt in the two-thirds of Kashmir ruled by India. India must respect the wishes of Kashmiris to settle its 43-year-old dispute with Pakistan over the Himalayan region, he said. Pakistan, which controls the remaining one-third of Kashmir, says the...

ISLAMABAD, May 11 (1991): Leaders of two rival Kashmiri militant groups appealed to their followers on Saturday to keep peace between themselves while fighting against Indian rule. Amanullah Khan, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), and Syed Salahuddin, chief patron of the Hezb-ul-Mujahideen group, said in a joint statement that attacks by the two groups on each other would benefit only India, their "common enemy". The appeal by the Pakistan-based militant leaders followed violence between their...

LONDON, May 10 (1991): A Kashmiri group said Indian security forces shot dead at least 40 people and injured 100 mourning the deaths of anti-Indian militants in Srinagar. India has promised an investigation into Wednesday's shooting in which hospitals reported 14 dead and 33 wounded. In a statement issued in London on Thursday night, the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front said Indian paramilitary police opened fire on thousands of Kashmiris at a funeral procession. It accused Indian forces of using "inhuman tactics" to...

SRINAGAR, May 10 (1991): The Indian government extended a curfew to more towns in the Kashmir Valley on Friday to head off protests over the deaths of more than 80 militants and civilians this week. Officials said a round-the-clock curfew was maintained for a second day in the old city of Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, and extended to Sopore and Baramullah. A partial curfew was also placed on Anantnag, they added. Militant groups had called for a day of protest in Jammu and Kashmir,...

SRINAGAR, May 9 (1991): India promised on Thursday to investigate the killing by security forces of 14 Kashmiris who were mourning the deaths of anti-Indian militants in the biggest battle of their rebellion. "It's a bad case and a major incident," Governor Girish Saxena said of Wednesday's killings in Srinagar's old city. "We will do everything possible to tackle the situation and I am personally looking into the matter," he told reporters. (For complete story write to admin@freepressKashmir.com)