Indian leader blames 'neighbor' for violence

NADIMARG, India -- India lashed out at Pakistan and the United States on Tuesday for doing little to contain terrorism after an attack in Kashmir killed 24 Hindus -- mostly elderly villagers dragged from their homes and shot.

India's deputy prime minister blamed violence in Kashmir on "our neighbor," but did not directly accuse Pakistan of the latest attack in India's portion of the strife-torn region claimed by both countries.

"This is a cold-blooded massacre. Violence in Jammu and Kashmir is continuing because of our neighbor," Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said. "These incidents are ... ethnic cleansing."

Police also said Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire along the frontier Monday, killing one Indian soldier. Such incidents are routine.

In one of the worst-ever attacks on Hindus in Muslim-majority Kashmir, about 10 men dragged villagers out of their homes in Nadimarg town Monday and shot them, police and witnesses said. The dead included 11 women and two children. Most of the adults were between 50 and 80 years old.

Indian police said they believed the gunmen were Islamic militants who have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from mainly Hindu India, or merger with Islamic Pakistan, since 1989. Police say the area is a stronghold of the Pakistan-based Hezb-ul Mujahedeen rebel group.

India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the Islamic groups, a charge Islamabad denies. A cease-fire line divides Kashmir between the two countries.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri on Tuesday repeated Pakistan's condemnation of the massacre and offered condolences. But he also blasted the Indian government for blaming his country.

"The Pakistan government deplores the ... baseless allegations," he said.

Kasuri also called for a joint Pakistan-India probe into the incident.

Advani had said an earlier Pakistan condemnation of the attack meant little.

"In the case of Islamabad all that has happened is that the words have changed ... not the actions. On the ground their approach to cross-border terrorism continues as before," he said.

On Tuesday, suspected Islamic militants attacked an Indian army patrol elsewhere in Jammu-Kashmir state, killing a captain and a soldier, police said.

After India-Pakistan tensions worsened following a December 2001 attack on India's Parliament by suspected Islamic militants, Washington said it received assurances from Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that he would not allow Pakistan territory to be used for terrorist activities in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Musharraf later denied making such a promise.

Advani, when asked whether he thought Washington's attention was diverted by the war in Iraq, said, "Even before Iraq ... I do not think that insofar as cross-border terrorism is concerned Washington has imposed any great pressure on Islamabad."

He added, "We are disappointed with the United States' attitude toward cross-border terrorism in India."

Monday's incident was expected to further strain India-Pakistan relations. The nuclear-armed neighbors came to the brink of a fourth war after the Indian government blamed Pakistan for similar attacks a year ago.