1995 Kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir
The 1995 Kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir was an act of kidnapping of six Western tourists by Al-Faran, a Kashmiri Islamist militant organisation from the Liddarwat area of Pahalgam in Anantnag district in south Jammu and Kashmir on 4 July 1995.[1]
Background
In 1989, an armed insurgency started in Jammu and Kashmir.[2]
The kidnappings
The six victims included two British tourists, Keith Mangan (from Middlesbrough) and Paul Wells; two Americans, John Childs of Simsbury, Connecticut and Donald Hutchings of Spokane, Washington; a German, Dirk Hasert; and a Norwegian, Hans Christian Ostrø. A note released by the kidnappers a day after the kidnappings said "Accept our demands or face dire consequences. We are fighting against anti-Islamic forces. Western countries are anti-Islam, and America is the biggest enemy of Islam."[3] Childs managed to escape and was rescued four days later.[4] Ostrø was beheaded by his abductors and his body was found near Pahalgam on 13 August 1995.[5] His body was taken to AIIMS, New Delhi, where a postmortem was conducted by Professor T. D. Dogra, who established the beheading as antemortem and reported that the words "Al Faran" were carved onto his chest.[6] The kidnappers demanded the release of Pakistani militant Maulana Masood Azhar who had been imprisoned by India and 20 other prisoners. Several national and international organisations issued appeals to Al-Faran to release the tourists. Representatives of the embassies of the victims' countries also visited Kashmir frequently to seek their release, without success. In December 1995, the kidnappers left a note that they were no longer holding the men hostage.[7] Mangan,[8] Wells, Hutchings, and Hasert have never been found and are presumed to have been killed.
In May 1996, a captured rebel told Indian investigators and F.B.I. agents that he had heard that all four hostages had been shot dead on 13 December 1995, nine days after an Indian military ambush that killed four of the original hostage-takers, including the man said to have been leading them, Abdul Hamid Turki.[9][10]
The Indian authorities alleged that Al-Faran was a branch of Harkat-ul-Ansar; however the militant group denied having any such ties to Al-Faran.[11]
Rescue attempt
According to the US-based Terrorism Research Center, Norwegian special forces from the Forsvarets Spesialkommando (FSK) made an attempt to locate and rescue the Norwegian hostage Ostrø. "In 1995, a small force from the unit deployed in the Kashmir region of India in an attempt to find and free a Norwegian citizen who was held hostage and later beheaded, by the Al-Faran guerrillas." The attempt was not successful. The Terrorism Research Center presented the information about FSK's missions in Kashmir without prejudice. The Norwegian Ministry of Defence has never admitted such an action taken place.[12]
The aftermath
The kidnappings were widely covered by western press and helped bring terrorism in Kashmir to the International communities attention. Donald Hutchings's wife Jane Schelly made repeated trips to the region to try to get some answers in vain.[13] In 1997, Indian police exhumed a body that was initially thought to be of British tourist Paul Wells.[14] However subsequent forensic tests ruled out that the body belonged to any of the tourists.[15] Maulana Masood Azhar was subsequently released in exchange for passengers aboard hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 along with Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. Sheikh was arrested in 2002 and was later tried and convicted for the kidnapping and beheading of Daniel Pearl in Karachi, Pakistan.
See also
References
- ↑ Fifth Tourist Kidnapped in Kashmir, The New York Times, (9 July 1995)
- ↑ Kashmiri Rebels Decapitate Captive Norwegian Tourist, The New York Times, (14 August 1995)
- ↑ Hijacking Revives Saga of Kashmir Kidnappings in '95, The New York Times, (31 December 1999)
- ↑ American Tricks Captors in Kashmir and Bolts to Freedom, The New York Times, (10 July 1995)
- ↑ Kashmiri Rebels Decapitate Captive Norwegian Tourist, The New York Times, 14 August 1995
- ↑ Kidnapped book review, The New York Times, 9 August 1998
- ↑ Worry Rising For Hostages Seized in India, The New York Times, (13 December 1995)
- ↑ http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/middlesbrough-hostage-keith-mangan-abducted-9584023
- ↑ "Report: Spokane man killed in India : m.kitsapsun.com : Kitsap, Washington, News, Business, Homes, Jobs, Cars & Information". Archived from the original on 21 July 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ↑ Burns, John F. (6 July 1997). "No Answers for Wife of U.S. Hostage in Kashmir". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Did pro-India militias kill Western tourists in Kashmir?". Reuters. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
- ↑ http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/artikkel.php?artid=1588113
- ↑ No Answers for Wife of U.S. Hostage in Kashmir, The New York Times, (6 July 1997)
- ↑ Exhumed Body Is of British Hostage, India Confirms, Los Angeles Times, (6 January 2000)
- ↑ Tests dispute Kashmir body identity, BBC, (27 March 2000)
External links
- Ransom, The Untold Story of International Kidnapping by Ann Hagedorn Auerbach- Chapter 1
- In memory of Hans Christian Ostro, Daily Excelsior, (9 August 2001)
- Al Faran and the Hostage Crisis in Kashmir, SAPRA India Foundation, (10 March 1996)
- Profile: Maulana Masood Azhar, BBC, (16 December 2002)