September 29, 2002	Sunday	Rajab 21, 1423

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SRINAGAR, Sept 28: At least nine people, including two Indian soldiers, were killed in occupied Kashmir on Saturday, and two contestants in the ongoing elections here survived assassination attempts.

Three people were killed and a woman candidate was injured in a landmine blast in the district of Kulgam, 70 kilometres south of Srinagar, police said.

A police spokesman said Khalid Mustaq of the National Conference Party was injured, but added that the identity of the three killed in the ambush was not immediately known.

Mustaq’s seat is up on Tuesday in the third leg of the staggered elections, which began on Sept 16. His constituency is Devsar, which adjoins the Noorabad seat of held Kashmir’s only woman minister, Sakina Itoo, who has faced four assassination bids.

Unknown men fired rockets at the house of a candidate from the ruling National Conference party, Syed Abdul Rashid, in a village near Kokernag, on Friday night. One rocket hit the house causing some damage. However, there were no casualties.

Rashid, who is contesting from the Kokernag legislative seat, was at home when the gunmen struck. Kokernag is part of Anantnag district, which along with adjoining Pulwama and two other districts goes to the polls on Tuesday.

Two Mujahideen and an Indian policeman were killed in a four-hour gunbattle that broke out when a special police squad, backed by paramilitary forces, cordoned a village in Budgam to look for guerillas.

In a similar encounter in the village in northern Kupwara district, two Mujahideen and an Indian army soldier were killed and another soldier injured, police said.—AFP