September 8, 2003	Monday	Rajab 10, 1424

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SRINAGAR, Sept 7: Eight people, including an army officer, died in violence in occupied Kashmir, where 500 Gurkha soldiers were sent on Sunday into the thick southern forests to track down seven freedom fighters who have eluded the military for six days.

Heavily armed Mujahideen late on Saturday ambushed an army patrol in the village of Chandakoot near Sopore town, 50 kilometres north of Srinagar, killing a junior commissioned officer and injuring three soldiers, a police spokesman said.

He said Mujahideen fired from automatic rifles and hurled grenades at the patrol of the army’s counter-insurgency wing, the Rashtriya Rifles. The area was sealed off to find the Mujahideen, although no arrests were made, police said.—AFP