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Indian Troops Search For Shock Attackers Of Delhi's Red Fort
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian troops Saturday combed New Delhi for the attackers who gunned down three people overnight in a shock attack on the capital's historic Red Fort.
Additional Commissioner of Police Ajay Chadha said two gunmen killed a soldier, an army barber and a civilian employee in the attack, which occurred around 9:30 pm (1600 GMT) on Friday.
Chadha said the identity of the attackers could not be confirmed but the hardline Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba outfit, a pan-Islamic group operating in Indian-administered Kashmir, claimed responsibility.
"The army has cordoned off the Red Fort area. The Delhi police and army have launched a joint combing operation within and around the Red Fort to look for clues," Chadha said.
He said 1,100 policemen, soldiers and military intelligence officials had fanned out across a two-kilometer (1.25-mile) radius from the fort to conduct "house-to-house searches in the neighborhood."
New Delhi police and the army, meanwhile, launched separate investigations into the security lapse.
A senior Delhi police official said the attack could be a "shift" in strategy towards targeting vital locations in the capital, following nascent peace moves in the Kashmir Valley.
"The security of the Fort would be reviewed in a joint meeting between army and police authorities," the senior police official said, adding that a "new security arrangement" would be put into place in New Delhi.
Some reports said the attackers sneaked in during a sound and light show for tourists, switched off the power supply and staged attacks in three different places before fleeing.
Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes visited the Red Fort Saturday and angrily denied that the attack pointed to intelligence failures.
"The security inside the premises is virtually nil as otherwise it would cause a major problem to those who visit this historic place," he said, blaming Pakistan for the audacious attack.
"We have clearly indicated to Pakistan to rein in militant groups like Lashker-e-Toiba and Harkat-ul-Ansar so that an atmosphere conducive for [peace] talks was created, and now it seems either Islamabad is not interested or it does not have control over these fundamentalist groups," he said.
Chadha described the attack as "a serious security lapse," adding that an investigation had been ordered into how the gunmen managed to gain entry through a gate barred to civilians and guarded around the clock.
He also admitted the two attackers and "possibly a back-up team" might have escaped.
"But a red alert has been sounded. Armed guards stationed at all 18 entry points to Delhi are checking cars and commercial vehicles," said Chadha.
On Saturday, Lashker-e-Toiba claimed its men had killed six people.
Spokesman Yahya Mujahid said the deaths raised to 30 the number of Indian soldiers or military-related personnel the group had killed since New Delhi announced a ceasefire in Kashmir last month.
Lashker-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed told India to expect more attacks.
"We take full responsibility ... and there will be more on soldiers, army installations but not civilians," Saeed said.
Kashmir's fighters have rejected a unilateral ceasefire by Indian troops in Kashmir announced for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and extended for four weeks on Wednesday, as a propaganda ploy.
The Mughal-built Red Fort not only houses a 500-strong military garrison but is also one of India's main interrogation centers where hundreds of Kashmiris have been held in the past.
Small two or three-man Lashker "suicide" squads have been responsible for sporadic attacks on security installations in Kashmir, often barricading themselves inside a building and opening fire on soldiers.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced the Ramadan ceasefire would be extended for a further four weeks and said his government would take "exploratory steps" towards resuming a stalled dialogue with Pakistan.
The conflict in Indian Kashmir has claimed 34,000 lives since its launch in 1989.
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