Srinagar, July 14
About 200 Amarnath pilgrims had a miraculous escape when their tents were buried under soil and mudslides at Baltal base camp, official sources said today.

They said a heavy rain in the area for about 24 hours triggered landslides and mudslides at Baltal, the base camp of Amarnath pilgrims.

However, before the tents were buried under the mudslides, pilgrims ran to safety.

Later, the pilgrims were shifted to safer places.

Sources said hundreds of pilgrims were stranded at the Baltal camp and no devotee was allowed from this side for the holy cave shrine. However, those stranded at cave were brought back to Baltal today.

They said about 4,000 pilgrims were stranded at Nunwan, Pahalgam base camp.

Sources said snowfall was experienced at Sheshnag, holy cave and its periphery, resulting in extreme cold. — UNI

Srinagar, July 14
Two Pakistani militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit were among three persons killed in Jammu and Kashmir since yesterday, while the security forces seized arms and ammunition during search operations.

A defence spokesman said here that the Army killed two militants in Mir Mohalla Aragam, Bandipur, in an operation yesterday. He said the troops observed suspicious movement in the village last evening. The militants hiding in a house tried to flee but were fired upon by troops conducting search operations, the spokesman said.

During the search of the area this morning the bodies of two militants were recovered. They were later identified as Mohammad Imran, alias Abu Muslim Zarar, and Abdullah, alias Lahori, both belonging to the Lashker-e-Toiba outfit and residents of Pakistan. Two AK-47 rifles with eight magazines, 240 cartridges and five shells of the UBGL were seized from the site of encounter, the spokesman said.

The police recovered the bullet-riddled body of Bashir Ahmad of Kokernag, Anantnag, at Kiloora in the Shopian area of Pulwama district this morning. He was a released militant of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen outfit, the police said.

During a search operation at Palli Morh in Kathua district, the police seized four mortar bombs, two hand grenades, one belt of the UMG and tail unit of two mortar bombs.

One pistol was recovered from a garbage dump near the general bus stand, Batamaloo, here yesterday. The police seized one pistol from a house at Reshipora, Dyalgam, in Anantnag district yesterday.

Jammu, July 14
The APHC leadership, while favouring gradual demilitarisation in Jammu and Kashmir, is optimistic that such a step will “automatically build pressure on gun-toting youth for eschewing violence, especially killing of innocent people”.

A senior APHC leader, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, said yesterday that they were not in favour any bloodshed, whether carried out by militants or security forces. The level of violence had gone up in recent months but it should not force the government to reject their demand for demilitarisation, he added. “Once the the strength of troops was reduced, it would automatically build pressure on militants to avoid attacking soft targets.”

The APHC leader said their demand for demilitarisation was linked to India-Pakistan relations which were being smoothened with a series of confidence-building measures." He said “bigger the deployment of troops within the state, larger are the chances for human rights violations”.

Prof Bhat stated that even gradual or phased withdrawal of troops could encourage those who matter to persuade gun-wielding youths to cease fire.