Additional
reporting by IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, November 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Suspected
Kashmiri militants attacked the Raghunath temple in Jammu city Sunday
evening, November 24, killing at least ten people and wounding dozens.
They exploded a grenade in the vicinity of the temple at the Hari
market at around 7 pm, Indian standard time (IST).
This
is the second such attack on the same temple. It was earlier attacked
by militants last March.
According
to Agence France-Presse (AFP), unofficial reports put the number of
dead at at least 12 people, including two Indian soldiers.
Indian
troops ended the three-hour siege of the Raghunath Temple in the
frontier city of Jammu, Indian Kashmir's winter capital, after killing
a heavily-armed guerrilla, officials said.
S. Stalin of the paramilitary Central Police Reserve Force, confirmed
the 150-year-old sprawling temple complex was empty of any threat.
"If
there was a second terrorist inside the temple then he must have fled
the scene. At present the complex is clear," he said, as troops
began scouring a smaller Hindu shrine in Jammu city's Hari Market
commercial district.
Ten
people, including one militant and two soldiers, were killed and 45
injured following the raid on the shrine, visited every years by
hundreds of thousands Hindus, said Kashmir state police chief A.K.
Suri.
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Temple
visitors flee Ragunath temple after the militant attack
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Suspected
militants attacked another important Hindu temple at Akshardham in
Gujarat last September. More than 30 people were killed in that attack
after two militants stormed the temple of Akshardham. Both the gunmen
were later killed by national commandos.
The
militants fired indiscriminately as they entered the complex this
evening. According to latest information at the time of filing this
report at 23 hours IST, one militant has been killed, in addition to
one soldier, one policeman and five civilians who happened to be in
the temple.
A
total of 28 persons have been rushed to hospitals according to the
deputy prime minister and home minister LK Advani who spoke to the
press as he came out of an official meeting.
A
police official from Jammu's police control room said militants first
set off a landmine in the busy Hari Market shopping district before
forcing their way into the popular Raghunath temple complex nearby.
It
is believed that another militant is hiding within the temple's
sprawling complex in addition to two more in the area which is being
combed by paramilitary forces. Elite commando forces are being flown
overnight from Delhi to Jammu.
According
to reports, militants have attacked another temple in the vicinity of
Ragunath which is considered one of the three most important Hindu
temples in Kashmir.
Earlier,
on March 30 this year, militants had struck at Raghunath Bazaar, one
of the most crowded markets in Jammu city, the winter capital of
Kashmir, with guns and grenades. Two of the militants were killed, one
of them inside the Raghunath temple itself. Nine people including four
policemen were killed and 19 injured. One of the militants managed to
escape. A little known group called "The Islamic Front"
claimed responsibility for that attack.
In
a related development, Jammu and Kashmir Minister Peerzada Mohammad
Sayeed escaped unhurt when militants fired at his motorcade in
Anantnag district Saturday evening.
In
Jammu itself, an intelligence official was among four people killed
today in separate incidents of violence in Rajouri, Poonch and Doda
districts
