11th July, 2017
Indian police on Tuesday accused an Islamist militant group based in Pakistan for an attack on Hindu pilgrims in India’s northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group, however, denied any involvement.
On Monday night, seven pilgrims, including five women, were killed and 19 wounded when militants opened fire on a bus travelling through Anantnag district.
Authorities said an estimated 3,000 Hindus on Tuesday continued the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine, which is dedicated to god Shiva, undeterred by the attack.
Senior Police Officer, Munir Khan said police had credible information that LeT was behind the attack and the mastermind was Pakistani militant Abu Ismail.
LeT spokesman, Abdullah Ghaznavi, condemned the attack, saying it was against Islamic teachings.
LeT is among the top militant groups operating in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Indian security officials say LeT runs several training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
At least 32 Amarnath pilgrims were killed in an attack in 2000.
The shrine is located at a height of 3,888 metres in the Himalayas.
Thousands trek through tough mountainous terrain every year to the cave to worship a naturally formed, sacred, phallus-shaped, ice stalagmite believed to be a representation of Shiva.
The pilgrimage is conducted for a short period every year between the time the snow clears on the route and before the summer melts the icicle.
A total of 212,000 people registered for the 40-day-long pilgrimage this year.
In New Delhi, Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, called a meeting of top security officials to review security in the region.