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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Kashmir Korpse Kount |
| 2005-06-09 |
| SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Six separatist guerrillas and a soldier were killed on Thursday in a fierce gun battle in troubled Indian Kashmir, police said. It was the highest toll in a single encounter in recent weeks in the disputed region, where rebel violence has declined since India and Pakistan, the two nuclear-capable south Asian rivals, launched a peace process 18 months ago. "It is not yet clear whether militants had infiltrated from the Pakistani side or were hiding there," a police official said. The gun battle erupted in the Kern sector of northern Kashmir near the Line of Control or ceasefire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan. India's army chief, General J.J. Singh, said on Thursday that Muslim rebels were making repeated attempts to infiltrate into Indian Kashmir from the Pakistan side. "Every week there are one or two infiltration attempts. Some get killed but some cross. We are continuously foiling their attempts," he told reporters. Moderate separatist leaders from Indian Kashmir are on a visit to Pakistan, where they met President Pervez Musharraf and vowed their support for his efforts to resolve the dispute that lies at the heart of rivalry between the two South Asian neighbors. A Muslim separatist revolt in the Himalayan state against New Delhi's rule has killed over 45,000 people since 1989. India blames Pakistan for backing the guerrillas, a charge Islamabad denies. The two countries have fought two wars over the region since they won freedom from British rule in 1947. |
| Posted by:Steve |