September 19, 2003	Friday	Rajab 21, 1424

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SRINAGAR, Sept 18: Violence continued in occupied Kashmir on Thursday with the fatal shootings of 14 Mujahideen by Indian soldiers and the death of seven more people in separate incidents.

Eight Mujahideen were gunned down on Thursday just moments after crossing into the southern Naushera sector, an Indian army spokesman told AFP from New Delhi.

“We have so far recovered three bodies with arms and ammunition and the remaining bodies will be collected later because they are scattered in the hilly region,” Brigadier Sruti Kant said.

The brigadier said the slain Mujahideen were among a large group which had walked across the border, the rest of them fleeing to evade a security patrol.

“A hunt is on for them,” Brig Kant said. “We are also trying to find out which group they belonged to.”

Four freedom fighters were also gunned down overnight in a clash with Indian soldiers along the border. Two were later determined to be local Kashmiris who police said were helping to guide Mujahideen unfamiliar with the area.

In Kupwara district, suspected Kashmiris shot dead an elderly man and his son on Wednesday, police added.

In the same district Indian troops gunned down two more Mujahideen overnight, a police spokesman said.

A security force personnel was killed in an ambush in the southern Doda district overnight, while suspected activists shot dead a civilian in the Poonch district, police said.

Police said suspected activists shot dead a Muslim in the Udhampur district, while another civilian died in a bomb explosion in the same district.—AFP