Mushtaq Ali, a Kashmiri photojournalist who strings for the Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency, was pronounced clinically dead in Srinagar on 7 September 1995, after a parcel bomb exploded in his hands. The parcel was delivered on the afternoon of 7 September to the office of Yusuf Jameel, the Srinagar, Kashmir correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Reuters news agency.
At about 15:15 hours local time (5:45 EST), an unidentified woman clad in a black burkha (a long, enveloping garment worn by women) delivered the parcel. Ali, who was present in the office, opened the package for Jameel, while the latter answered a telephone call. The bomb inside exploded immediately, severing Ali's left hand, disfiguring his face, and severely injuring his right hand and abdomen. Jameel and Habibullah Naqash, a photographer for the Delhi-based "Asian Age" newspaper, sustained minor injuries in the explosion.
The office itself was extensively damaged. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Jameel is believed to have been the target. Local colleagues of the wounded AFP photographer told CPJ that doctors did not expect him to survive. By 23:00 hours local time (12:30 EST) on 7 September, Ali was being kept alive on artificial respiration at a local hospital, the Soura Institute of Medical Science.
