May 5, 2002	Sunday	Safar 21, 1423

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SRINAGAR, May 4: Indian troops claimed killing nine Mujahideen in gunbattles and unidentified men gunned down nine civilians in occupied Kashmir on Saturday.

Armed men swooped down on sleeping villagers in the remote Maramat area of Doda district, police said. The gunmen dragged four men out of their huts and opened fire on them, a police spokesman said. A Hindu was also shot dead by the gunmen in a nearby village.

The Indian army moved into the area on Saturday to track down those responsible for the killing. In the district of Baramulla, gunmen barged into the house of Waterwani villager Sultan Khan and shot dead his son, police said.

In the neighbouring village of Barzalla, gunmen abducted a contractor whom they shot dead, while in Kupwara two civilians were abducted and one of them killed, police said.—AFP