Hurriyat asks militants not to attack bus
AFP, Srinagar
Kashmiri militant groups yesterday repeated a threat to attack passengers on a bus service to be launched next week across the divided Kashmir region, despite a plea from a hardline separatist group to avoid violence. The four guerrilla groups repeated a threat made earlier in the week that those planning to take the first bus on April 7 were "traitors" and would have to face the consequences if they travelled despite being warned. "This service is a sell-out of martyr's blood and will prove to be an end of Jihad in Kashmir," the statement faxed to news agencies in Srinagar said. "It will also end up handing over Kashmir permanently to India." The statement said many of the passengers scheduled to take the bus have been called on the phone and told they risk attack at home or elsewhere if they take the journey. The repeated threat from the militants came after Syed Ali Geelani, the head of the hardline faction of Indian Kashmir's main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, condemned a similar statement released Wednesday. The threats are not expected to delay the start of the service, which has been suspended for more than 50 years.
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