Jihad in Kashmir update. “Hizbul Mujahedin” means, of course, Party of Jihadists. From AFP, with thanks to Twostellas:
SRINAGAR: A senior policeman and 18 other people were injured after a powerful explosion yesterday in the southern Kashmir town of Anantnag.
“An explosion has taken place in Anantnag town. Initial reports say it was a powerful explosion,” a police spokesman said.
Among the injured was police chief of the Anantnag district, Ravinder Kotwal, who was taken to a hospital in Srinagar for treatment.
The spokesman said militants detonated a bomb when Kotwal was moving in the area in his car along with escort vehicles.
“A few vehicles have been damaged in the explosion, including an escort vehicle,” the spokesman said, adding several people have been injured….
None of the rebel groups has claimed responsibility for the blast. The area is a stronghold of the dominant rebel group Hizbul Mujahedin.
The explosion marks the first attack of the new year in Kashmir, a region racked by 15-year-old insurgency against Indian rule.