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| India-Pakistan |
| 'Most wanted' militant killed in Indian-Administered Kashmir |
| 2010-07-22 |
| [Dawn] One of Indian-Administered Kashmir's "most wanted" militants has been killed in a fierce gunbattle, dealing a blow to the insurgency in the volatile Himalayan region, the military said Wednesday. A Pakistani identified as Nouman, commander of the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahedin rebel group in Indian-Administered Kashmir, was killed in an overnight shootout with soldiers, army spokesman JS Brar told AFP. Harkat-ul-Mujahedin is one of a number of groups fighting against New Delhi's rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan. The most powerful group is thought to be Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). In recent years, Harkat and LeT have carried out joint operations, a move military analysts put down to depleting recruitment. Brar said Nouman was the Kashmir valley's "top most militant", wanted for a number of attacks including masterminding a nearly 24-hour siege at a hotel in the centre of Indian-Administered Kashmir's main city Srinagar in January. "His death is a big jolt to insurgency in Kashmir," he said, adding Nouman was an expert bomb-maker. The gunbattle that killed him took place in Sopore town, about 50 kilometres, north of Srinagar, and also left an unidentified accomplice and an Indian soldier dead. In further violence, police said suspected militants shot dead a civilian in the southern district of Kishtiwar early Wednesday. Kashmir has been hit by demonstrations since June 11, when police were accused of killing a 17-year-old boy. Since then, another 16 protesters and bystanders have been killed. Indian police and paramilitary troops enforced a strict lockdown Wednesday in parts of the Kashmir valley after separatists called for fresh protests, while in Srinagar and other main towns a general strike called by the separatists disrupted life for the fourth day running. More than 47,000 people have died in Kashmir since anti-India militants launched an insurgency in the scenic region in 1989. The violence has declined sharply since India and Pakistan started a slow-moving peace process in 2004. Both nuclear-armed rivals hold the region in part but claim it in full. |
| Posted by:Fred |