Siege of two Hindu temples in Kashmir leaves 12 dead

JAMMU, India -- Security forces used rocket launchers Monday to end the siege of two Hindu temples by Islamic militants in India-controlled Kashmir, police said. Twelve people, including two rebels, were killed.

At least 50 others, mostly Hindu devotees visiting this city of temples, were injured, said Ashok Suri, the police chief of Jammu-Kashmir state.

Police and paramilitary troops killed one militant at the Raghunath Temple and another at the nearby Panchvaktar Temple in Jammu, the state's winter capital, after a six-hour offensive.

Five civilians and two policeman were killed, authorities said. The identities of the other three dead were not immediately known.

It was unclear if more militants were involved in the operation and had fled.

The militant attacks came amid a flare-up in violence in the northern state, where a separatist Islamic insurgency has killed more than 61,000 people since 1989. Over the past three days, 36 people have been killed.

Cross-border attacks

New Delhi has blamed Pakistan-based militant groups for staging cross-border attacks in the Himalayan region, which is the major flashpoint between India and Pakistan.

On Sunday, multiple grenade explosions took place in the nearby Hari Market, from where thousands of Hindu pilgrims set off daily on their way to the mountaintop shrine of Vaishno Devi. It was unknown if there were any casualties.

Moments later, two suspected Islamic militants stormed into the 142-year-old Raghunath Temple, firing weapons and hurling grenades. The temple is one of the most revered Hindu pilgrimage sites in the region.

Hundreds of Hindus hunkered in small rooms or behind pillars in the temple's sprawling marbled campus.

'Soft targets'

"Two men first threw grenades at an ice cream parlor, then started indiscriminate firing and forced their way into the temple," junior federal minister I.D. Swami told the private Zee News television channel. "Temples are soft targets. The terrorists who come from Pakistan want to spread panic and provoke religious violence."

Police blocked access after many civilians stormed into the temple minutes after the attack, carrying iron rods and rocks. Hundreds jostled with police, accusing them of not protecting them.

They shouted slogans against the state's new coalition government, and accused it of going soft on the militants.

More than three hours later, security forces fought their way in, after exchanging fierce gunfire with the militants.

Police declared the temple safe late Sunday night after searching the sprawling campus for more militants, booby traps and live grenades.

Then, for several hours, security forces cordoned off the Panchvaktar Temple, located in a narrow alley about 400 yards away, where the second militant fled.

Troops fired rocket launchers into the temple before security forces raided it and killed the militant, officials said.

Most survivors were brought out dazed or weeping, and several had to be carried out by rescuers.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, whose Congress Party is a major partner in the coalition, rejected accusations the government was soft on militants.

"We will never let the terrorists succeed. They will be defeated, like they have always been defeated," Azad told the private Aaj Tak channel. "This is an attack on secularism and Indian democracy."

Authorities later imposed curfew across Jammu city, apparently to prevent religious clashes between Hindus and Muslims.

Sunday's attack was the second on the Raghunath Temple. In March, suspected Islamic militants raided the temple, killing eight people. The two attackers were later shot down.