December 1, 2002	Sunday	Ramazan 25,1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

SRINAGAR, Nov 30: In a fresh flurry of violence in occupied Kashmir on Saturday, Indian forces shot dead ten Mujahideen, while militants triggered four explosions, injuring 17 people.

Five other people were killed in separate incidents, officials said.

A spokesman claimed Indian forces had shot dead four Mujahideen as they were about to enter the Poonch district, 225 kilometres west of occupied Jammu, from the Line of Control (LoC).

In another incident, Indian guards cordoned off a hideout used by four militants in the mountains of the Udhampur district after receiving a tipoff, the spokesman claimed.

“As the BSF (Border Security Force) men neared the hideout, they came under fire. The troops retaliated, killing the rebels.”

A large quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered, he said.

Indian forces also shot dead two militants in Sopore, 50 kilometres north of Srinagar, the spokesman added.

Elsewhere, militants shot dead two members of the pro-India Ikhwan group in the Srinagar and Kupwara districts.

Police said three people were killed in the held state in other incidents.

In the Khanyar area of Srinagar, six civilians, among them four children, and three policemen were injured when a powerful explosive blew up near a moving police vehicle, leaving three people in serious condition.

Witnesses said the explosion, near a BSF camp housed in a cinema, shook the entire area.

Four other civilians were injured in a grenade explosion near Awantipora, 30 kilometres south of here.—AFP