Ten people were killed in the latest outbreak of separatist violence in Jammu and Kashmir, where authorities called off a rare New Year party out of respect for tsunami victims, officials said on Friday.  Indian troops killed five Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, an army spokesman said. "Three of them were killed during a 20-hour long encounter with Indian Army soldiers," said the spokesman, Lt Col VK Batra. The gunfight started around midday on Thursday in the village of Ribon, near Sopore town, 50 kilometres north of Srinagar. Two other militants were killed in the southern district of Poonch on Friday, a police statement said. In other violence, another four militants died in separate inter-group clashes in the southern districts of Pulwama and Rajouri, police said, adding that suspected militants shot dead a civilian in Sopore on Friday. Meanwhile, Kashmir authorities on Friday called off a rare New Year celebration party in a southern health resort out of respect for the victims of the killer tsunami in Asia, a state government spokesman said. "Out of respect for the tsunami victims we have cancelled the party that would have also attracted lots of tourists," the spokesman said. |