Hardline Kashmir separatist denounces Taliban

“Acts of terrorism” by Taliban extremists in Pakistan are un-Islamic, a hardline Muslim politician campaigning for Kashmir’s independence from India said Saturday Referring to Thursday’s spate of bomb attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern cities, in which 15 people were killed, Syed Ali Geelani told reporters that, “such attacks are forbidden in Islam as innocents are killed.

“Islam is a religion of peace and such attacks defame the religion,” said the 79-year-old Geelani, who supports a two-decade insurgency against India’s rule over half of Kashmir. Geelani, who heads a hardline faction in the region’s main separatist alliance, the Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, called on the Taliban to lay down their arms and hold peace talks with Pakistan’s government. -AFP