Security stepped up in Kashmir after terror attack leaves 5 migrant labourers dead
Srinagar: Security has been heightened in Kashmir following the terror attack in Kulgam district that left five labourers from West Bengal dead, even as a complete shutdown disrupted normal life across the valley on Wednesday, officials said.
The terror attack came at a time when a delegation of parliamentarians from the European Union is in Kashmir to talk to locals and ask them about their experience after abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution. Five migrant labourers in Kulgam district of south Kashmir were shot dead by terrorists on Tuesday night. Another labourer was injured and has been shifted to a hospital here.
Clashes also broke out at several places in Kashmir on Tuesday, leaving several persons injured. Official said security personnel along with a flying squad have been deployed in several areas of the city and across the valley, especially in South Kashmir.
The officials said random checking of vehicles and frisking of people was being done as part of the security drill. Security personnel were alert to thwart any attempts by anti-national elements to target non-locals or to derail peace in the valley.
Normal life remained affected across the Kashmir valley for the 87th day on Wednesday following the abrogation of Article 370. The officials said markets remained closed on Wednesday, while public transport remained off the roads. Roadside vendors, who had regularly set up their stalls over the past two months, also did not turn up for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, they said.
The annual board examinations for class 10 and class 12 are being held as per schedule. Class 10 examinations began on Tuesday, while the class 12 exams are scheduled to start from Wednesday afternoon. Landline and post-paid mobile phone services have been restored across the valley, but all Internet services continued to remain suspended since 5 August.
Most of the top-level and second-rung separatist politicians have been taken into preventive custody while mainstream leaders including two former chief ministers -- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti - have been either detained or placed under house arrest. The government has detained former chief minister and sitting Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah under the controversial Public Safety Act.
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UAE condemns 'terrorist' attack on Indian-flagged vessel off Oman coast
Dubai (PTI): The UAE has condemned a strike on an Indian-flagged vessel off the coast of Oman, calling it a "terrorist attack" and a "dangerous escalation" that threatens the stability of critical waterways.
The commercial vessel, which was sailing from Somalia, came under attack on Wednesday, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs.
All 14 crew members were rescued by Omani authorities, but it was not immediately known who carried out the strike, it said.
"The UAE strongly condemns terrorist attack on Indian-flagged ship off the coast of Oman," the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement issued on Thursday. "This attack constitutes a grave threat to the security of international navigation and represents a dangerous escalation aimed at undermining the stability of critical waterways."
The incident took place amid the fragile situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway close to the coast of Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass.
It has been severely disrupted by the conflict in West Asia that started on February 28, with the US and Israel launching joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes.
The MoFA further said that the attack on the India-flagged vessel on Wednesday was a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2817, which affirms the importance of freedom of navigation and rejects the targeting of commercial vessels or the obstruction of international maritime routes.
It emphasised that "targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represent acts of piracy and constitute a direct threat to the stability of the region, its peoples, and global energy security".
The UAE expressed solidarity with India and its support for all measures aimed at safeguarding the security and safety of its vessels and interests, the statement said.
Earlier, India had described the attack as "unacceptable".
At least two other Indian-flagged ships have been attacked since the conflict broke out.
