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SRINAGAR, June 21: Indian forces claimed killing 10 Kashmiri Mujahideen on Friday.
The Mujahideen killed an official from held Kashmir’s ruling party, police said.
Ghulam Rasool, who served as a block president for the National Conference, was shot dead inside his house, becoming the second official of the party to be gunned down this week.
Police said there had been four firefights between Indian troops and Mujahideen on Friday.
They said members of the National Rifles gunned down three freedom fighters at Kaimoh village, near Bandipora township, 60kms north of Srinagar.
The firefight, police added, erupted when soldiers were trying to defuse a landmine.
“As the troops started defusing it, the militants (Mujahideen) opened fire, resulting in a retaliation by the troops,” a police spokesman said.
“Three ‘militants’ were killed while others fled the area.”
The army, backed by special police, shot dead two more Mujahideen in a separate encounter in an adjoining village on Thursday night, police claimed.
Later on Thursday Indian forces shot dead three more Mujahideen in the nearby village of Hardu, police said.
In yet another incident, police said Indian troops killed another two Mujahideen in the village of Tris, in the district of Kupwara.
The National Conference official was killed in Wadipora.
INDIAN CLAIM: There are some 3,000 guerillas in occupied Kashmir ready to carry out acts against India, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes warned on Friday.
However, India’s troops would, he added, take on the guerillas “in the due course of time”.
Fernandes alleged the guerillas had crossed into held Kashmir under covering fire “provided by Pakistani troops”.
The defence minister repeated a statement he made on Thursday that “infiltration” levels were drastically down, but said that until they were completely halted, there would be no de-escalation of Indian forces on the borders with Pakistan.—AFP
