SRINAGAR, April 28 (2007): Suspected Muslim militants threw a grenade at a crowded bus stand in Indian Kashmir on Saturday, killing a woman and wounding 25 people, police and witnesses said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred on the outskirts of Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar. "We were waiting for the bus. Suddenly there was a loud explosion. I saw my husband and son bleeding," Khateeja Bano told reporters at a Srinagar hospital. "Everyone was screaming and crying for...

SRINAGAR, India, April 27 (2007): Three policemen and four news photographers were hurt in Kashmir on Friday when police fired teargas at Muslims protesting over damage to a local mosque, witnesses said. The trouble started after a fort, inside which the 199-year-old mosque is located, was opened to visitors for the first time in 17 years after Indian troops stationed there vacated it last week. (For complete story write to admin@freepresskashmir.com)

NEW DELHI, April 24 (2007): India's prime minister promised on Tuesday to strengthen human rights and improve the quality of life in Kashmir to erase the scars of a violent revolt and help bring peace to the troubled region. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurances came at the start of the third roundtable conference on Kashmir involving pro-Indian politicians from the disputed Himalayan region and Indian government officials. The talks started last year as an attempt to address the demands of Kashmiris weary of the...

NEW DELHI, April 24 (2007): Pro-Indian politicians from Kashmir hold talks with New Delhi on Tuesday to push for peace in the troubled Himalayan region, but with separatist groups staying away they are expected to make little progress. The talks with Indian government leaders led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the third in a series of roundtable conferences started last year, and the first in nearly a year. Apart from breathing new life into a process that was considered to be flagging, the talks are expected to...

SRINAGAR, April 19 (2007): Kashmir's separatist political alliance said on Thursday it would not take part in a meeting planned by New Delhi to find a solution to the revolt in the Himalayan region unless militant groups and Pakistan attend. Most political separatists, including the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, stayed away last year from two similar Kashmir "roundtable" meetings, an avenue for talks promoted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Hurriyat will participate in the roundtable conference only if...

SRINAGAR, April 16 (2007): Thousands of angry protesters marched in Kashmir on Monday with the bodies of two civilians killed in an exchange of fire between police and militants the day before, police and witnesses said. A carpenter and a mason were killed late on Sunday near Kakpora area, about 25 km (15 miles) south of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, a police spokesman said. Residents said the policemen had fired indiscriminately in retaliation after their vehicle came under attack from...

SRINAGAR, April 11 (2007) - A shopkeeper was killed and 10 people wounded when suspected Muslim militants threw a grenade, aimed at a police picket, in the heart of Kashmir's main city, police said on Wednesday. No militant group claimed responsibility for the attack which took on late Tuesday evening near a crowded junction in Srinagar, the region's summer capital. Indian authorities say the number of daily killings in the disputed Himalayan region had fallen...

Sheikh Mushtaq SRINAGAR, March 5 (2007): Cable TV operators in Indian Kashmir suspended three English-language channels on Monday after Muslim militants threatened to attack broadcast installations to protest what they called obscene programmes. "After threats from militants, we have decided to stop Star Movies, Star World and Sony Pic," Mushtaq Ahmad, the owner of a leading cable company in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, said on Monday. Two militant groups Al-Badr and Al-Madina...

Sheikh Mushtaq

A halting peace process between India and Pakistan is believed to have cut the number of militants fighting Indian rule in its portion of Kashmir. "In the past few years, there has been a considerable decline in violence. The killings have come down from 10...