JAMMU, Feb 7 (2004) – An old woman died of a heart attack in Indian Kashmir on Saturday after separatist guerrillas lobbed a grenade and fired at an army patrol near a crowded bus station, police said.
Another person died and 30, including three soldiers, were wounded by splinters when the patrol was attacked near Shopian bus station in Pulwama district 55 km (35 miles) southwest of Srinagar, the state’s summer capital.
Kashmir remains prey to separatist violence despite peace moves by India and Pakistan over the Himalayan region, and talks between India and Kashmir’s main separatist alliance which began last month.
“The old lady collapsed and died of a heart attack after the incident as people rushed for cover,” a police official told Reuters.
Elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir, six people died in violent incidents in the past 24 hours, police said.
India accuses Pakistan of fomenting militant violence in Jammu and Kashmir, where more than 40,000 people have been killed in the revolt against New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Pakistan denies the charges.
