Fatal Attack on Kashmir Pilgrimage
Authorities suspended an annual Hindu pilgrimage in the Himalayas after Islamic militants attacked devotees with hand grenades, killing 14 people in the disputed province of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said.
Seven pilgrims, two police officers guarding the route, four porters and one militant dressed as a Hindu priest were killed, said a police officer speaking on condition of anonymity.
Fifteen others were wounded when the two grenades exploded simultaneously as pilgrims trudged up to Amarnath Cave, said K.B. Jandiyal, a spokesman for the Indian-ruled Jammu and Kashmir state.
The attack occurred 12 miles from the cave, which houses a stalagmite linked to the Hindu god Siva.
The government immediately halted the pilgrimage, and police stopped nearly 15,000 pilgrims at the base camp at Pahalgam, a resort town about 60 miles south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
Police blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group based in Pakistan that is fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. No group has claimed responsibility.
India and Pakistan both claim the region of Kashmir.
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