Gandhi visits Kashmir victims

The victims were poor labourers and their families

India's opposition leader, Sonia Gandhi, has criticised the government for failing to prevent the latest attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.

She was visiting the site where 28 Hindu civilians were killed in an attack thought to have been carried out by pro-Pakistan Muslim militants at the weekend.

The question is how long will this go on?

Sonia Gandhi

In continuing violence in Kashmir, three people were killed on Wednesday and nine others injured in an explosion on a road used by Hindu pilgrims to visit a holy shrine.

Police said the blast took place at a camp used by a pro-India militant group - Ikhwan - which lies on the route to the Hindu shrine at Amarnath.

An annual pilgrimage to Amarnath is due to begin next week.

Wednesday's was the second blast along the route in two days.

Fourteen people were wounded in a grenade attack in Anantnag town on Tuesday.

Victims

Mrs Gandhi distributed cash and relief to the victims of the attack in Jammu, many of whom were poor migrant workers.

She told them she had come to share their pain and sorrow, adding that the government appeared to have no concrete policy aimed at ending the violence.

"The question is how long will this go on? The central and state government have to take steps to address this security situation," she said.

In a heated debate in the Indian parliament on Tuesday, Mrs Gandhi's Congress Party had strongly criticised the government over the attack.

But in its reply, the government refrained from blaming Pakistan in its first official reaction to the latest bloodshed in Kashmir.

	Kashmir militant attacks: 1 October 2001: 38 killed in attack on the Kashmir assembly in Srinagar 13 December 2001: 14 killed in attack on the Indian parliament building in Delhi 14 May 2002: More than 30 killed in attack on an Indian army camp in Kashmir 21 May 2002: Moderate Kashmiri politician Abdul Ghani Lone shot dead South Asia's high nuclear stakes

Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani told MPs that Pakistan must do more to crack down on militants operating within its territory.

He also said the international community must pressurise Islamabad into dismantling militant training camps inside Pakistan.

But he gave Pakistan's leadership some credit - saying it had changed its stance since last year.

"Now Pakistan identifies attacks on civiilians as acts of terrorism rather than as part of a freedom struggle," Mr Advani said.

Kashmir envoy

The two countries came close to war over Kashmir after an attack on an Indian army camp in May left more than 30 people dead.

India and Pakistan have fought two out of three wars over Kashmir since independence in 1947.

Mr Advani also announced that the government had appointed a representative to discuss the issue of granting the Kashmir state government greater autonomy while continuing to be part of India.

Former law minister Arun Jaitley will hold talks with the National Conference led government in Indian-administerd Kashmir.