Fighting continues in Kashmir, but now it is back in the populated areas. In one an rocket attack on a military camp near the Pakistan border, one Indian soldier was killed and six more wounded when three rockets were fired into the camp by Kashmiri rebels. Other camps and police posts were attacked. One Indian colonel was shot leaving his home. The death toll for the first week have been about 80 police, soldiers, rebels and civilians. India refuses to negotiate with Pakistan until support for Moslem rebels is stopped. Meanwhile, Indian and Pakistani artillery are not shelling each other daily across the border.
August 3; The strange case of Sonia Gandhi's sudden resignation of leadership of India's Congress-I party and her return to the leadership nine days later may have more to do with personal security concerns than with internal party politics. Tamil separatist (LTTE) commanders, meeting in South Africa, decided on a plan to assassinate Sonia Gandhi after India's Supreme Court confirmed death sentences for four LTTE radicals caught in India (and life in prison for three more). Her turnabout resignation may have been partly a ploy to disrupt the planned assassination and give security units more time to track down and arrest the would-be assassins. --Stephen V Cole
August 2; India announced that it had lost 410 dead, so far, in its 1999 battles in Kashmir.
August 1; Shelling continues across the Line of Control in Kashmir. Indian troops killed six armed men attempting to enter Kashmir from Pakistan.
