Unknown gunmen have shot and killed at least seven people who were working on the construction of a strategic transport tunnel in the Indian part of Kashmir. Another five people were injured, officials said today, cited by the AP agency.
Police blamed groups fighting against the Indian government for the attack. Gunmen stormed a construction workers’ camp near Kashmir’s tourist resort of Sonamarg. They started shooting at the workers and officials associated with the construction; two people died on the spot, at least ten others were taken to hospital, where another five succumbed to their injuries.
The victims of the attack, which happened on Sunday evening shortly after the workers returned to their quarters, include workers and officials, as well as a doctor providing services at the camp. Soldiers and police launched a search operation in the area for the attackers, AP added.
Hundreds of people are working on the ambitious tunnel project to connect the Kashmir Valley in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir with the cold desert region of Ladakh. Ladakh is cut off from the world for half of the year due to snowfall. Experts say that the tunnel project is important for the army, which would give it much better operational capabilities in Ladakh.
The strategically important area borders Pakistan and China, and Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a military conflict there since 2020. Both countries have deployed tens of thousands of troops there, supported by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.
India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both countries claim the entire territory. Since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947, these nuclear-armed countries have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.
Militants in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir have been fighting the government in Delhi since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the insurgents’ goal of uniting the territory either under Pakistani rule or as a separate country. India claims that Kashmiri “terrorists” are supported by Pakistan, which Pakistan denies, the AP added. Many in predominantly Muslim Kashmir see the armed resistance as a struggle for freedom. Tens of thousands of civilians, insurgents and members of government forces have already been killed in the conflict.
Source: www.tyden.cz
