JAMMU, INDIA, March 30, 2002: Eleven people were killed and 25 others injured Saturday when suicide bombers stormed attacked the famous Raghunath Temple here. Three terrorists arrived at Raghunath temple gate at 10:30 am, exploded grenades at the temple’s gate and opened fire from AK-47 rifles. Devotees who come from across the country for their pilgrimage to the shrine of Vaishno Devi were fleeing Jammu following the attack. City police chief Prabhat Singh said two of the three militants who attacked the shrine were killed instantly, along with four policemen and four civilians, including two devotees. Twenty-five others were injured in exchanges of fire, Singh said, adding that five of the victims were in critical condition. The temple’s chief priest, Darshan Kumar Sharma, said the sanctorum was scarred by bullet marks. Police chief Singh said the attackers belonged to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamic guerrilla group, which India blames for carrying out an attack on its national parliament in New Delhi in December which left 14 people dead.
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