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6 BSF men killed as two
explosions rock J&K

At least six members of the paramilitary Border Security Force were killed and twelve others were wounded when militants ambushed vehicles carrying security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

In the first incident, police sources a vehicle of the 34th battalion on routine patrol hit a powerful landmine at Kahlil Tral village in southern Pulwama district on Thursday morning.

Four BSF personnel were killed in the attack. Sources said three soldiers who were critically wounded were shifted to a hospital.

The vehicle was also extensively damaged in the blast.

As news of the explosion reached Tral, senior BSF and police officers rushed to the spot.

Sources said the area was immediately encircled and a search mounted.

In the second incident, twelve army soldiers were critically wounded in a massive explosion at Chechkote village in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway on Thursday morning.

Police sources said the army bus carrying soldiers was on its way from Srinagar to Jammu when it hit an improvised explosive device planted at Chechkote.

The injured were admitted to a hospital.

Senior army and police officials have rushed to the spot.

Traffic on the highway was disrupted following the blast.

The blasts follow Tuesday's suicide attack on Srinagar airport, in which 11 persons, including six militants, three Central Reserve Police Force members and two civilians were killed.

The bodies of the six Lashkar militants were buried at Humhama. Hundreds of people joined the funeral, shouting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans.

The Lashkar-e-Tayiba said that the commander of the squad, who the outfit spokesman identified as Salah-Ud-Din alias Abu Ubaid Tariq, escaped after the attack. Outfit spokesman Abu Osama said that Tariq was in touch with the outfit.

Meanwhile life in Kashmir Valley was crippled on Thursday, following a general strike called by a traders' federation against massive power cuts in Kashmir.

All shops and business establishments were closed and traffic was off the roads.

Banks and government offices were also closed.

While the state administration is mounting campaigns to recover electric bills from Kashmiris, the most conspicuous thing about electricity in the state is its non-availability.

"People are being forced to pay for a facility that is non-existent," said local shopkeepers, who called for the strike across the Valley.

Daily electricity supply to consumers has been reduced to a bare three hours and that too is erratic, they claimed.

The complete coverage: The ceasefire in J&K

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