February 5, 2002	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 21, 1422

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SRINAGAR, Feb 4: Two Mujahideen hiding in a mosque in occupied Kashmir surrendered on Monday, ending a 30-hour siege by Indian security forces, police said.

The peaceful surrender came as police reported that elsewhere in the disputed Himalayan region Indian security forces shot dead six Kashmiris in two gunbattles.

Four freedom fighters died in a clash northwest of Srinagar, police said in a statement. Two more, including a commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, died in a gunbattle nearby, police said.

The Mujahideen took refuge in the mosque on Sunday as security forces carried out a search near the town of Sopore, north of Srinagar.

In another incident, the army arrested five members of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen west of Srinagar, police said.

Amid the violence, chief minister Farooq Abdullah said foreign observers would be welcome to monitor upcoming state elections, dogged in the past by allegations of vote-rigging.

“Let anyone from anywhere in the world monitor the elections” he said, also urging the All Party Kashmir Hurriyat Conference to contest the election.

The Hurriyat has boycotted past elections, which opponents of India’s rule have accused New Delhi of rigging in favour of pro-Indian parties. The state poll is expected later this year.

Tensions are high in the contested Himalayan region, at the core of the row between India and Pakistan that has triggered a massive military build-up along their border from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea.—Reuters