Three Indian soldiers and seven suspected militants were killed in a series of clashes in northern Kashmir near the truce line with Pakistan. Two rebels who ignored an order to surrender and a soldier were killed in a six-hour firefight when troops and police attacked a hideout in Kupwara district late Tuesday, police officer Haseeb Mughal said on Wednesday. Two soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in two other clashes with militants along the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan, AFP reported. Troops also reportedly shot and killed four more suspected militants in the same area. Kupwara, some 100 kilometers north of the state summer capital Srinagar, borders Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and India alleges the region is used by militants infiltrating from across the line of control. Islamabad denies charges of arming and funding the rebels, insisting it is doing what it can to prevent militants crossing over to sustain an insurgency launched against Indian rule in 1989.
In a separate incident, suspected militants shot dead a former rebel in the northern town of Sopore, 50 kilometers north of Srinagar, a police spokesman said. "He was suspected of spying," the official said.
Violence has fallen in the region since India and Pakistan started a peace process in January 2004. The latest rate of killings are the highest in recent months. The regional unrest has claimed more than 42,000 lives by official count, although human rights groups put the number at 70,000.