May 12, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 6, 1429

SRINAGAR, May 11: Indian forces and suspected Muslim militants clashed on Sunday in two incidents in occupied Kashmir, killing 10 people, including three civilians and a news photographer, the army said.

Two soldiers and four gunmen were among those killed in the fighting, as one gunbattle raged for more than 16 hours after soldiers surrounded six suspected militants holed up in a house, Indian army spokesman Lt-Col S.D. Goswami said.

In the first clash, soldiers confronted a group of gunmen who had apparently infiltrated the area from across the Line of Control, Goswami said.

The militants were found after dawn in the village of Kehli Mandi. As soldiers approached, the gunmen opened fire, hitting a house, killing two civilians inside and wounding two others, he said.

During the daylong gunbattle two soldiers, two militants, a civilian and a photographer were killed. Goswami said five soldiers and a policeman were also wounded.

After storming the house, soldiers discovered the bodies of two gunmen and troops were searching for the others, said Goswami.

The photographer Ashok Sodhi, 45, was covering the battle for the local English newspaper the Daily Excelsior. The newspaper’s chief photographer was believed to be the sixth journalist killed since the outbreak of fighting in Kashmir in 1989.

In the second clash, two suspected militants were killed in a firefight with army and police in the forest area of Darsun, about 120km north of Srinagar, said Vijay Kumar, the area police chief.

Kumar said the Indian forces suffered no casualties.—AP