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India blames Pakistan for bomb blast

India Police search victims
Police officers look for victims under the rubble of the state assembly  


NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India has blamed Pakistan for a deadly car bombing in Kashmir that killed at least 35 people and warned there is a limit to their patience.

Noting that a Pakistan-based group claimed responsibility for the attack at the state assembly in Indian-administered Kashmir, India's prime minister told President George W. Bush in a letter that longtime adversary Pakistan has to realize "there is a limit to the patience of the people of India."

"There has been understandable anger in the country at this wanton act of violence. Ironically, it comes only a day after the president of Pakistan announced on television that Pakistan has no terrorist groups operating from its territory," said Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the letter, obtained by CNN.

It was the largest explosion in the Kashmir valley since the terror attacks occurred in the United States three weeks ago.

Rammed a car

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A suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into the main gate of the state legislature in Srinagar.

At least 35 people were killed and at least 70 injured in the explosion and subsequent fighting with rebels.

Witnesses of the blast said it killed nine people instantly. Many more died of their injuries on the way to hospital.

The attack took place around 2 p.m. Monday, less than an hour after the legislative assembly had finished business for the day.

Several senior Kashmiri leaders already had left the building. The parliament speaker was escorted to safety by security forces.

Among the dead were five policemen, five legislative employees, and a schoolgirl, police said.

In addition, they said the bodies of two rebels dressed in police uniforms had been recovered.

Jaish-e-Mohammad, an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack in calls to news agencies.

Fate of Kashmir

India and Pakistan have long been fighting over the fate of the territory of Kashmir.

After the September 11 terror attacks, Pakistan, which borders Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, has been a key backer of the United States' worldwide battle against terror.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Sunday told CNN that there are no terrorist groups operating in the country.

Vajpayee told Bush that India has "joined wholeheartedly with the United States" in its quest to fight the international terror.

"With you, we condemned any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism. We fully understand that in resolutely countering the terrorism that attacked the USA on September 11, you are discharging your core responsibility for the interest and security of the people of the United States of America," the Indian leader said.

Vajpayee -- also noting that one of the suicide bombers was a Pakistani national -- said that while we "do not wish to overload the agenda in any way," these kinds of actions "raise questions for our security."

Jaswant Singh, India's external affairs minister, has been asked by Vajpayee to "convey to you [Bush] more fully our sentiments" over the developments.

Strikes at heart

The attack on the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly strikes symbolically at India's pride in its democratic form of government.

Last week, Indian intelligence reports indicated that such attacks were on the decline in Indian-administered Kashmir, because many of the suspected militants operating there had moved on to Afghanistan to help defend that country from possible American strikes.

But rebel groups in Kashmir deny their fighters have left for Afghanistan.

Jaish-e-Mohammad had warned last week that it was preparing an attack on an Indian airport. That set off a flurry of activity to protect airports in the area.

India says the key to preventing such attacks is to target the guerrillas' training camps, some of which, New Delhi alleges, are in Pakistan. Officials in Islamabad deny that charge.



 
 
 
 


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• Directory of official web sites of Government of India
• Kashmir WWW Virtual Library

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