M A I N   N E W S

5 die in ambush on Army convoy

Srinagar, July 7
In the second major strike in three days in Jammu and Kashmir, militants belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba today ambushed an Army convoy on Srinagar-Jammu national highway in Doda district triggering a fierce gunbattle in which three soldiers, a civilian and a militant were killed.

Seven security personnel were also wounded in the attack, an official spokesman said.

He said heavily-armed militants hurled grenades and fired indiscriminately at the Army convoy at Chamalvas in Banihal, some 125 km from here, forcing the jawans to retaliate.

Three security personnel were killed and seven, including a special police officer (SPO), wounded in the gunbattle, the spokesman said.

Besides a militant, a civilian caught in the cross-fire was also killed, he said.

Security forces cordoned off the area to nab the attackers.

Claiming responsibility for the attack, LeT spokesman Abu Usama told a local news agency, “Our activists carried out the attack on the Army, inflicting casualties.”

On Wednesday, LeT militants attacked an Army convoy near Khanabal in South Kashmir, killing three soldiers, including a Major.

An unidentified militant was killed and several houses were gutted in a fierce encounter between militants and security forces at Aboora village on the Srinagar-Gulmarg road today, official sources said.

The encounter broke out when the security forces sealed the village to flush out hiding militants.

Troops of 14-Rajput Rifles gunned down two militants of the Islamic Front and arrested two others during an operation at Marhama-Awoora in the frontier district of Kupwara last night, the official spokesman said. PTI

Maoists kill 40 cops in Nepal
Santosh Jha

Birganj (Nepal), July 7
In yet another chain of violence in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, the banned ultra left organisation Maoists’ extremists killed at least 40 policemen of Nepal and injured another five in different incidents taking place in three different districts of the country. Reports emanating from Kathmandu maintained that the official sources had confirmed the death of 35 cops. In the Maoists attack in the last five years more than 600 policemen and civilians have lost their lives.

The Maoists of Nepal have their links with the Indian ultra left organisations and in recent times, as the Indian Intelligence agencies have warned, the ultra left movement in Nepal has gained significant ground after the recent meeting of the representatives of the banned organisations of Bangladesh, India and Nepal.