Five Islamic terrorists attacked the site of a destroyed mosque at Ayodhya, in northern India. The attackers were all killed by the police guarding the site. The mosque was torn down by Hindu radicals in 1992, who wanted to rebuild a Hindu temple that had been destroyed in the 16th century so the mosque could be built. Some 2,000 Moslems and Hindus died in nationwide violence that accompanied the original attack on the Ayodhya mosque. The current Indian government has halted the temple rebuilding project and cracked down on the Hindu radicals.  

Northern India was first attacked by Moslem armies a thousand years ago. The raids turned into more permanent occupation throughout northern India by the 13th century. Unlike other areas conquered by Moslem armies, most Indians held onto their Hindu religion. Only a minority of Indians converted to Islam, and many of those fled to Pakistan and Bangladesh when the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947. India is over 85 percent Hindu, and Hindu radicals want to raise that percentage.