On 6 March 1996, Ghulam Nabi Khayal, a Kashmiri journalist and correspondent for Pakistan Television (PTV), and formerly a reporter with United Press International (UPI), was threatened by three unidentified men who threw two grenades at his home located in the city of Srinagar. One of the two grenades exploded, damaging window panes in the house; however, there were no injuries. Khayal had refused to comply with an order by the men to come with them. Indian police attributed the grenade attack to militant separatists, although local journalists speculated that pro-India militiamen may have been responsible.
On 4 March, armed men claiming to be members of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant group entered a printing press owned by the Srinagar newspaper "Aftab", and immediately ordered its operators to cease printing the newspaper as well as the dailies "Al-Safa" and "Uqab". Srinagar's Urdu-language press community immediately went on strike in support of the newspapers. The strike ended on 6 March after Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leaders denied responsibility for the closure order.
