Kashmir Braces for Vote as Rebels Combat Soldiers

Separatists launched grenade attacks on polling stations and fought gun battles with soldiers Monday as the Indian-held part of Kashmir geared up for another round of elections. Ten people were killed and 29 wounded.

The violence came as tens of thousands of Indian soldiers built sandbag bunkers at polling booths for a second bout of voting today in India’s portion of the Himalayan region, which is also claimed by Pakistan.

At least one police officer was killed when guerrillas attacked a college in Srinagar. The campus was to be used as a distribution and collection point for elections officials and security forces today.

Separately, an Indian soldier and four rebels were killed during a fierce gunfight near the highway connecting Srinagar and Jammu, the summer and winter capitals of Jammu and Kashmir state, police said.

Elsewhere, two guerrillas were killed in a gun battle in Rafiabad, about 40 miles north of Srinagar, while a soldier and a civilian died in a land mine explosion in Udhampur district. Police blamed the blast on Islamic militants, who have been waging a 12-year insurgency against Indian rule.

The separatists have called for a boycott of the elections and have threatened to kill candidates and voters. India is hoping the vote, which is being staggered to help security forces, will strengthen its rule and weaken the separatists.

Voters in Jammu and Srinagar go to the polls today. At least 27,000 soldiers have been deployed to protect them in Srinagar alone.

More than 100 political activists and candidates, including a state minister, have been killed in election-related violence this year.

Despite the violence, election officials pressed ahead Monday with last-minute checks of registration lists and security coordination.

“We have tried our best. The rest is up to God,” election officer Gulam Jeelani Khan said.

Turnout was unexpectedly high in the state’s first round of elections, held Sept. 16. The federal elections commission said 47.2% of 800,000 registered voters in the affected areas cast their ballots.