Bomb explodes outside Catholic school in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Published: 2005-07-20

NEW DELHI, India (CNS) -- A powerful bomb exploded outside a Catholic school in Srinagar, in India's northern state of Jammu-Kashmir, killing six people and injuring at least 20. Church officials said students and staff were safe, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Father Maria John, Burnhall School principal, told UCA News that the July 20 attack appeared to be aimed at sabotaging ongoing peace efforts between India and Pakistan. "The militants clearly did not target the schoolchildren," he said. If they had, they could have detonated the bomb an hour earlier, when children were gathering at the school, and casualties would have been in the hundreds, he added. Bishop Peter Elampassery of Jammu-Srinagar told UCA News that a suspected suicide bomber rammed his car into an army convoy, causing a massive explosion, shattering windows at the school and a nearby mosque.

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