World | India
Top militant killed in gunbattle
Indian forces killed a top commander of the largest Kashmiri separatist group in a gunbattle in the restive Himalayan region, police said on Sunday.
- AP
- Published: 00:21 February 11, 2008
Srinagar: Indian forces killed a top commander of the largest Kashmiri separatist group in a gunbattle in the restive Himalayan region, police said on Sunday.
Farooq Ahmad Dar, the financial chief of the militant group Hezb-ul-Mujahideen, was one of two militants killed in the battle on Saturday in Kashmir, said Hemant Lohia, a senior police officer.
"His killing is a big blow to the militants," Lohia said. Hezb-ul-Mujahideen, which has been tied to dozens of bombings and violent attacks in a deadly campaign against Indian rule in the region, had no immediate response to the reported death.
It was not possible to contact the group for confirmation of the report.
The fighting began late on Saturday after police and soldiers cordoned off Noorpora, a village about 45 kilometres south of Indian Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, Lohia said. No soldiers were injured or killed in the fighting, Lohia said.
Territory
Kashmir is divided between nuclear archrivals India and Pakistan, but claimed by both in its entirety. The two countries have fought two wars over the territory since they gained independence from Britain in 1947. India accuses Pakistan of training and arming nearly a dozen militant groups who have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989.
Islamabad denies the charge, saying it only gives moral and diplomatic support to the rebels.
More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict.
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