Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Guerrilla prefers grenades Date: Sun, 1 Nov 92 20:06:09 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \HD Guerrilla prefers grenades \SH Kashmiri brags of his killings \BY Richard S. Ehrlich \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES \DT SRINAGAR, India SRINAGAR, India - Junid Sahil is the proud commander of some 200 guerrillas operating in the bustling heart of Kashmir's capital, Srinagar. "I've personally killed about 15 to 17 Indian army men," said the 23-year-old rebel, who uses the nom de guerre Akram. "I mostly use grenades." Akram's violent mutation into an urban killer is in many ways the story of thousands of young men in the bloodied Kashmir Valley who have picked up guns to defend their spiritual dreams - and annihilate all enemies. "I decided to take up the gun when I was a student, 19 years old. There was a massacre in Lal Chowk [downtown Srinagar], where 200 people were killed by the Indian army," he said. "It was the first massacre, in 1988. I saw it and narrowly escaped. When I saw . . . they don't care who is a militant and who is innocent, I thought I was unsafe. So within three or four months, I took a gun to have safety for myself and those who they massacre." The 200 rebels under Akram's command belong to the 15,000-strong Hezb-ul Mujahideen, or Party of Holy Warriors, the biggest and deadliest guerrilla group fighting the Indian army in this beautiful but terror-filled mountain state in northwest India. "It is my duty to look after 200 guys physically and mentally. I have to watch out for my area and see if anyone will inform the government," said the thin, intense and sometimes sneering Akram. "I have to find out the area of the Indian army. Is my position dominating? Or do I have to increase my position? I have to produce my report to my commander every 15 days. "I have to see how many of my guys are without weapons or other things. I have to see if any militant will tease the common people. "If I am not successful, there is a mujahideen intelligence wing who will tell our supreme commander." Akram said his area includes Lal Chowk and the surrounding maze of shops, hotels, restaurants, houseboats and government bureaus. It also includes stalls that sell everything from goats' legs, freshly hacked off in the sewage-filled gutter, to books about the "sex life of hippies." As a platoon commander, Akram must decide which weapons to use to kill the Indian troops. He prefers the ease of hand grenades. "When we fire 30 bullets, only five or six will hit the army and some may hit the common man, so we usually decide on hand grenades. With the hand grenade, we pull a pin and we don't have anything in the hand" as evidence later. "When we attack vehicles, we first use hand grenades, then guns. When we throw hand grenades in the Jeeps or buses, it bursts in four seconds inside the vehicles. "In this locality here, we use mostly guns because the streets are crowded and people are rushing, so if we use hand grenades innocents might get killed." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM