This 20 year old Kashmiri killed a militant, shot another

Displaying rare courage, a 20-year-old Kashmiri woman axed to death an armed Lashkar-e-Toiba commander and then, along with her 18-year-old brother, snatched guns and opened fire on two other militants, wounding one and forcing them to flee. The incident took place at Shahdra Sharief in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir late Sunday night.

Police identified the dead militant as Uzafa Shah, a Pakistani national who had been operating in the Rajouri-Poonch area for the last four years. He was said to be the only Lashkar commander in the area who had survived.

Rajouri SSP Shafqat Watali said police found a blood trail, suggesting that one of the militants who fled was wounded. One even left behind his weapon.

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Two years in prison, top Hizbul man walks free, red faces in Jammu and Kashmir

In a setback for security forces in the Valley, Nisar Ahmad Bhat alias Gazi Misbah-ud-din, Hizbul Mujahideen chief commander of operations, has been released on bail by a court in Anantnag after being in jail for more than two years. He was allowed to walk out of the court itself where he was handed over to his lawyer.

"He was bailed out by the honourable court which directed the police party accompanying him to remove his handcuffs and hand him over to his lawyer in court," a J&K Police spokesman said. Sources said the police are conducting an inquiry why Bhat was allowed to leave immediately after he was bailed out.

Before he became the outfit's chief operations commander, Bhat, while in Pakistan, had been the driver of Hizbul Mujahideen supreme commander Syed Salahuddin.

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Reluctant father Farooq gives in, clears the way for Omar as Chief Minister

When the National Conference and the Congress leadership formally sit down to discuss a coalition government for Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow, they will begin on a positive note: the young heir of Gandhi family Rahul Gandhi and scion of the Abdullah clan Omar Abdullah share an alliance of friendship and have been in constant touch since the fragmented verdict was out last evening.

Sources reveal that one main reason for the last-minute “generational shift” in the NC’s Chief Ministerial candidate — replacing Farooq Abdullah by son Omar — was to “smoothen” the coalition talks. With the Congress high command, Omar Abdullah is the preferred choice for more than one reason. Sources said the father Abdullah does not share a “comfortable relationship” with 10 Janpath while the sons and heirs of the two families are close.

Asked whether his friendship with Rahul will play a role in the NC-Congress coalition, Omar Abdullah told The Indian Express: “I will not use my friendship with Rahul or my equation with him to force a situation which otherwise will not arise.

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Terrorists are at work in Jammu and Kashmir, India is not a threat: Zardari

Declaring that India is not a “threat” to his country, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has described the militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir as “terrorists”, the first such admission by any top Pakistani leader.

“India has never been a threat to Pakistan. I, for one, and our democratic government is not scared of Indian influence abroad,” Zardari told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.

He spoke of the militant groups operating in Kashmir as “terrorists,” the paper said noting that former President Pervez Musharraf would more likely have called them “freedom fighters.”

Indicating a major shift in Pakistan’s well known position, Zardari had, as chief of Pakistan People’s Party, said in March that the ties between two countries should not be held “hostage” to the Kashmir issue, which should be left for future generations to decide, raising hackles at home.

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In first for Valley, Jammu and Kashmir school girls set the football rolling

It's not a sight that has been seen in Srinagar before a group of 45 schoolgirls, some even attired in hijabs, sweating it out on a football field, dribbling and jostling past each other to safely net the ball into the goal-post.

Their dream: to represent the state in the Under-19 category football tournament at the national level.

The competition is already intense. Of the 45 girls, who represent different schools, only 18 players will be picked to participate in the inter-district tournament to be held at Kargil in June. The state team will then be selected, and the next step will be the national level Under-19 championships scheduled later in the year.

For the time being, however, the girls are enjoying their time under the hot May sun at the coaching camp organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports.

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‘He led from the front, even when he didn't have to'

Three-Year old Sidharth does not understand the reason why his toys have been shifted out of the living room to make way for white sheets and incense sticks, or why his mother's tears have been flowing all night.

Tomorrow his father, Lt Col M S Kadam, would have turned 38. Instead, today evening, his body reached home. The officer laid down his life on Sunday personally leading an assault to bring down the most wanted militant in Jammu and Kashmir.

As the officiating commanding officer of 22 Rashtriya Rifles, Kadam was not even supposed to lead an assault such as this. But, when he received information that Hafiz Nisar, the Lashkar-e-Toiba's commander in Kashmir, was hiding in Rafiabad's Chatloora village, Kadam could not sit back and watch.

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