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Kashmir security boosted

ahead of Indian

national day

SRINAGAR; Police conducted house-to-house searches in Kashmir's summer capital on Saturday to capture any militants and weapons they said could be used against Indian authorities at a coming parade.

Indian authorities have tightened security in Srinagar ahead of the 50th anniversary of India's independence on August 15.

Officials said the measures had been imposed in anticipation of attacks by Islamic separatists who plan to celebrate Pakistan's independence day on August 14 instead.

Police said the search operations were part of a plan to "sanitise" areas near the city's Bakshi stadium, site of an annual parade to mark Indian independence from Britain. They have also been combing the stadium for explosives.

"We are searching houses in areas near the stadium in the hope of finding any miliants or weapons there," a police spokesman said.

It was unclear whether any militants had been arrested or weapons seized during the operation.

Three grenade explosions on Friday in Srinagar, the summer capital of India's rebellious northern Jammu and Kashmir state, helped prompt the police action.

Independence day in India is not widely celebrated in the mostly Muslim Kashmir valley, where separatist support is strong. Eight people were killed and more than 100 wounded when three bombs exploded during a Republic Day rally last January in Jammu, the state's winter capital.

Police and local authorities estimate over 20,000 people have died since the armed insurgency began in Kashmir in 1990.

Some pro-Pakistan militant organisations will celebrate Pakistan's independence day, news reports said.

The Jammu and Kashmir Al-Fateh Force, according to local newspapers, will mark the day by hoisting Pakistan flags across the valley and holding armed parades.

It will observe August 15 as a "black" day, burning Indian flags and calling for a "civil curfew" -- one that is imposed by the people, not the authorities, the reports said.

The All-Party Hurriyat Conference, a coalition of over 35 Kashmiri political and cultural organizations, has called for a complete strike on August 15 to close down all shops, transport and other services as a sign of protest.

The Hurriyat said Kashmiris would pay rich tributes to all martyrs who have died in the struggle for freedom in the troubled territory.

Police also said they were concerned by sophisticated explosive devices used by separatist guerrillas in recent attacks on Hindu pilgrams.

Guerrillas struck four times along a 48-km route taken by Hindus on a pilgramage to the Himalayan cave of Amarnath that began early this month. The pilgramage is winding up as remaining Hindus straggle back to Pahalgam.-Reuter