Ten soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in four attacks in Jammu this year
\n NEW DELHI\/SRINAGAR
\nIndia has stepped up security in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) region because of an increase in attacks from freedom fighters in the run-up to a G20 meeting on tourism in the occupied territory, officials said on Wednesday.
\nThe city of Srinagar, the summer capital of the occupied territory, is due to host a tourism working group meeting of G20 members on May 22-24, part of a series of meetings ahead of a G20 summit in New Delhi in September.
\nFreedom fighters have stepped up attacks this year in the Jammu region, across the mountains from the Kashmir Valley where Srinagar is located.
\nTen soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in four attacks in Jammu this year.
\nSecurity officials said they fear the separatists could try to promote their cause with an attack before or during the G20 meeting.
\n\u201cThe timing of these attacks is worrisome as they are planned just before the G20 meeting,\u201d said a senior Indian army officer in the region. He declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to media.
\nMilitary and police officers said they had intelligence information that freedom fighters might target a military-run school in Jammu and take students hostage.
\nIn response, such schools had been shut and classes moved online until after the G20 meeting, they said.
\nSecurity agencies are not taking any chances in Srinagar, officers said.
\nVijay Kumar, chief of police in IIOJK, told Reuters that commandos had been deployed in the city and members of a counter-terrorism force would be on stationed in various places.
\nSrinagar has been at the centre of the insurgency by separatists against Indian rule since 1989. Tens of thousands of people have been killed due to violence by Indian forces in the occupied valley. Pakistan accuses India of violating the rights of Kashmiri Muslim people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ten soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in four attacks in Jammu this year NEW DELHI\/SRINAGAR India has stepped up security in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) region because of an increase in attacks from freedom fighters in the run-up to a G20 meeting on tourism in the occupied territory, officials said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-331871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n