SRINAGAR: Militants attacked a police team in Kashmir on Friday, killing two officers and wounding one despite tight security in the disputed Muslim-majority region ahead of India’s Independence Day.
A group of militants opened fire on the police team that was on duty in the Nowgam area of Srinagar city, the chief of police in Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, told Reuters.
“We had inputs that militants may carry out attack and were alert,” said Kumar. “They came through a narrow lane and fired indiscriminately.”
He said the militants had been identified and vowed to “neutralize them” soon. The area had been cordoned off searches were going on, he said.
The attack comes days after the first anniversary of the revocation of Kashmir’s constitutional autonomy, a reform the Indian government said would promote the region’s development by drawing it closer to the rest of the country.
But many people in Kashmir saw the loss of special autonomy as another step in the erosion of the rights of Muslims by the Hindu-nationalist government. The government rejects that.
Kashmir has been disputed by India and neighboring Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both countries claim it in full but rule it in part.
More than 50,000 people have been killed in more than three decades of insurgency in Kashmir that India accuses Pakistan of fueling by supporting Muslim militant groups fighting India’s security forces in its part of the divided region.
Pakistan says it only offers political support to its fellow Muslims in the Himalayan region.
India celebrates Independence Day on Saturday.
Militants kill two police in Kashmir ahead of India’s Independence Day
https://arab.news/pxj9u
Militants kill two police in Kashmir ahead of India’s Independence Day
- Authorities said the militants had been identified
- The attack comes days after the first anniversary of the revocation of Kashmir’s constitutional autonomy
Orbán orders extra security at energy sites, claiming Ukraine plots disruptions
- Orbán said the Ukrainian government was using “an oil blockade” to exert pressure on Hungary
- “We will deploy soldiers and the necessary equipment to repel attacks near key energy facilities”
BUDAPEST: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Wednesday ordered extra security at critical energy infrastructure sites after claiming Ukraine was attempting to disrupt Hungary’s energy system.
Budapest has recently accused Kyiv of deliberately holding back Russian oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukraine’s territory. Ukrainian officials have denied the allegations, saying the pipeline, which feeds refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, was hit in a Russian drone attack.
‘An oil blockade’
In a video posted to social media, Orbán, who maintains the closest relationship with the Kremlin of any European Union leader, said the Ukrainian government was using “an oil blockade” to exert pressure on Hungary and that Hungarian national security services showed Ukraine was “preparing further actions to disrupt the operation of Hungary’s energy system.” He didn’t provide details or evidence for his claims.
“We will deploy soldiers and the necessary equipment to repel attacks near key energy facilities,” Orbán said. “The police will patrol with increased forces around designated power plants, distribution stations and control centers.”
Nearly every country in Europe has significantly reduced or entirely ceased Russian energy imports since Moscow launched its war in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Yet Hungary and Slovakia, both EU and NATO members, have maintained and even increased supplies of Russian oil and gas, and received a temporary exemption from an EU policy prohibiting imports of Russian oil.
On Sunday, Hungary threatened to block a major, 90-billion euro ($106 billion) EU loan for Kyiv, and vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia on Monday. Orbán has vowed to block any other EU measures to assist Ukraine until oil shipments resume.
Druzhba has been out of commission since Jan. 27. Repairs are hazardous and the pipeline can only operate reliably if Russia stops targeting energy infrastructure, according to Ukrainian officials.
Orbán also ordered Wednesday a ban on drone operations in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, which borders Ukraine.
A crucial election
Orban has repeatedly accused Ukraine of “blackmail” to force him to give up his anti-Ukrainian positions, and of seeking to drive up energy prices in Hungary just weeks before a pivotal election.
Orbán, who retook office in 2010, faces the strongest challenge to his power in an election set for April 12. The EU’s longest-serving leader and his right-wing Fidesz party are trailing in most independent polls to an upstart center-right challenger, Péter Magyar.
Meanwhile, Orbán has launched an aggressive anti-Ukraine media campaign portraying the embattled country as an existential threat to Hungary.
His party has pushed the message that if it loses the election, the Tisza party will drag the country into the war in Ukraine, bankrupting Hungary and getting its youth killed on the front lines.
