World | India
Top paramilitary officer, two soldiers killed in Kashmir
Troops shoot dead commander of rebel group
- AP
- Published: 00:00 November 17, 2009
Srinagar: Fierce gunbattles and a roadside bomb killed three soldiers and two suspected insurgents early yesterday in Jammu and Kashmir.
Militants blew up a jeep and killed the deputy inspector-general of the Border Security Force, O.P. Tanwar, and wounded two paramilitary soldiers, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to reporters.
The attack took place 35 kilometres south of Jammu, the winter capital of the state.
Tanwar was visiting the region close to the border with Pakistan hours after insurgents and paramilitary soldiers exchanged fire there overnight, the officer said.
Two army soldiers were killed in a separate gunbattle with rebels, who allegedly infiltrated the Keran sector from Pakistani territory, said Lt Col J.S. Brar, an army spokesman.
One rebel was also killed in the fighting in the rugged mountainous region, 120 kilometres north of Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, Brar said.
Militant hideout targeted
Separately, Indian soldiers cordoned off a village and opened fire on guerrillas hiding in a house in the Pulwama region, killing a commander of Kashmir's biggest rebel group, the Hizb-ul Mujahideen, said police officer Sajad Ahmad.
More than a dozen militant groups have fought Indian forces since 1989 seeking independence for the Muslim-majority state, or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training Islamic militants and unleashing them into Indian Kashmir to attack government forces and other targets — a charge Islamabad denies.
India and Pakistan have fought two of three wars over control of Kashmir — a territory claimed by both in its entirety — since their independence from Britain in 1947.
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