Muslim, Hindu Gangs Riot in Kashmir.

Muslim, Hindu Gangs Riot in Kashmir.

SRINAGAR | India | 09 Aug 2013 ::  Indian forces imposed an indefinite curfew Friday in a town in the Indian portion of Kashmir after firing tear gas and warning shots to disperse groups of Muslims and Hindus who clashed during Eid celebrations, police said.

The army began enforcing the curfew as rival groups attacked each other with stones and sticks, and burned several shops and vehicles in Kishtwar, a town 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Several people were hurt in the clashes, said one police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

The trouble erupted after Hindus objected to Muslims shouting raising pro-independence slogans on the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which caps the fasting month of Ramadan.

State Home Minister Sajad Ahmed Kitchloo, who is from the area, escaped unhurt when his motorcade was attacked with stones by the clashing groups.

The state director-general of police, Ashok Prasad, said “the situation is serious and our priority is not to allow the situation to escalate…. We are trying to enforce the curfew strictly.”

Anti-India feelings run deep in Kashmir, where about a dozen rebel groups have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. More than 65,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.

The rebel groups have largely been suppressed by Indian troops in recent years, and resistance is now principally expressed through street protests.

Indian forces also used tear gas and pellet guns to quell thousands of stone-throwing protesters who took to the streets after the special Eid prayers in Srinagar.(Courtesy:Epoch Times)Read More>>>

Graveyard bomb kills 14 women and children in Afghan east.

Graveyard bomb kills 14 women and children in Afghan east.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrives for Eid al-Fitr
 prayer that marks the end of the Muslim holy month
of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, August
, 8, 2013. — Photo by AP

KABUL | 09 Aug 2013 ::  A bomb planted in an Afghan graveyard killed 14 women and children on Thursday, many of them present at the graveside of a family member during the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, officials said.

The bomb exploded in a rural district of eastern Nangarhar province, said the provincial governor's spokesman, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai.

Nangarhar and its capital, Jalalabad, have been racked by a series of bombings and suicide attacks over the last week.

It is common in Afghanistan on the first day of Eid for people to pay their respects at the graves of loved ones. The victims were mainly from one family, Abdulzai said.

Three women and one child were wounded, he added.

Three Afghan bodyguards for the Helmand province police chief, Mohammad Hakim Angaar, were killed on Wednesday in a suicide bombing, the provincial governor's spokesman, Omar Zwak, said.

In June, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the former Helmand police chief's convoy, wounding three.

President Karzai calls on Taliban to stop war

In a speech for the start of a Muslim holiday, the Afghan president has urged the Taliban to lay down their arms, join the political process and stop killing innocent civilians.

Hamid Karzai spoke Thursday after prayers for the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He thanked the Afghan security forces for their sacrifices in the war against the insurgency.

He says too many Afghans have lost their lives to roadside bombs during this year's Ramadan and that the violence should end.(Courtesy:Dawn)Read More>>>