August 2, 2002	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 22,1423

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JAMMU, Aug 1: Eleven Mujahideen, an Indian army officer, two policemen and a civilian were killed in gunbattles in occupied Kashmir on Thursday and Wednesday night.

A group of four Mujahideen launched an attack from houses bordering the complex, a police spokesman said.

An army officer was killed in the initial firing, which immediately drew retaliatory fire from the Indian forces, he said.

By midmorning all four guerillas were dead. Police said it appeared the Mujahideen had been aiming to hit senior officials and politicians. Indian troops claimed killing four Mujahideen in another gunbattle in Udhampur district, 100 kilometres northeast of held Jammu.

The soldiers had cordoned off an area where they believed the freedom fighters had barricaded themselves. As the soldiers neared the place, the Mujahideen opened fire, an army spokesman said.

Indian troops retaliated and in the ensuing shootout the four Mujahideen were killed, the spokesman said.

In another incident, two Indian policemen were killed near Qasim Nagar slum in occupied Jammu, the site of a massacre of 28 Hindus last month, police said. Two other Mujahideen died in separate incidents, a military spokesman said, without furnishing details.—AFP