| Eleven people including a district commander of a hardline militant group were killed in fresh separatist violence in Held Kashmir. Indian troops shot dead two militants in the southern Kashmir district of Doda in an overnight clash, police said. One of the dead was identified as Mohammed Rafiq of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Troops have boosted their operations against militants in Kashmir over the past fortnight. Four more militants were killed in two separate clashes with Indian troops in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, police said. Police also said a soldier died and another was injured in a shootout between militants and security forces in Kupwara district. Another militant had been killed in a second clash near southern Shopian town, police said. Among the other dead, two Muslim civilians were killed and another was injured in an exchange of fire between militants and soldiers overnight in the districts of Kupwara and Poonch, a police spokesman said. He said another Muslim civilian was shot dead in the village of Hari Safedan in Poonch district Monday morning. |