September 20, 2003	Saturday	Rajab 22, 1424

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SRINAGAR, Sept 19: Four freedom fighters and three Muslim civilians were killed in Kashmir on Friday as the provincial leader ordered a probe into an alleged custodial killing that sparked protests, officials said.

The army on a tipoff launched an operation to “dismantle” a Mujahideen hideout at Gool in Udhampur district, a defence spokesman said.

The Kashmiri fighters fired on us when we encircled the hideout. Three Kashmiris fighters were killed during four-hour long gunbattle, said spokesman Lieutenant Colonel B.S. Rathore.

Another Mujahid died in a three-hour long gunbattle in Sopore, 50 kilometres north Srinagar, a police spokesman said.

Police said three Muslim civilians were killed in Srinagar, the southern Poonch district and the northern Baramulla district where the victim’s throat was slit.

Police said the killings were carried out by Mujahideen. No groups immediately claimed responsibility.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed ordered a judicial probe into the death of Tahir Hussain, who’s relatives say was arrested by Indian troops a day after his wedding last week.

Relatives say Hussain was a civilian and that his leg was found in the jungles near his village of Tujjar Sharief near Sopore.

The death sparked anti-government protests in Tujjar Sharief and a visit on Thursday by Sayeed to pacify the villagers. He was accompanied by his daughter Mehbooba Mufti, who heads his People’s Democratic Party.—AFP