Fifteen terrorists killed in Kashmir in multiple incidents

Twenty-one people, including 15 terrorists and four army personnel, were killed in separate terrorism-related incidents as security forces foiled an infiltration bid in Jammu and Kashmir since Thursday, official sources said on Friday.

Three terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Larna area of Qazigund in Anantnag district on Friday evening, the sources said adding the operation was on when reports last came in.

Another terrorist was killed in a separate operation by security forces at Wailoo in the district, the sources said.

Four army personnel and two terrorists were killed in a fierce gunbattle near the Line of Control (LoC) in Machil sector of Kupwara district last night, they said.

The gunbattle erupted when the troops guarding the LoC confronted a group of terrorists trying to infiltrate into the valley from across the border.

The operation in the area was continuing and further details are awaited, the sources said.

Two unidentified terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces at Lawaypora area on the outskirts of Srinagar early on Friday.

One AK rifle, a pistol, three grenades and some ammunition were recovered from the deceased whose identity and group affiliation is being ascertained, the sources said.

However, residents of Tangpora locality of Batmaloo in the city claimed that the deceased included Hizbul Mujahideen divisional commander Mohammad Ibrahim Dar who was arrested by police from the area on Thursday.

Lashkar outfit against Hezb ceasefire, pledges to continue terror Source Date: 1/10/2005 Agency: Tribune News Service The Al Mansoorian rebel outfit has announced its opposition to the plan under which the Hezb ul Mujahideen may accept suggestions from various quarters for declaring a ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir. Activists of the Al Mansoorian have expressed surprise over astute silence adopted Hezb ul Mujahideen leaders over reports of ceasefire being debated in Hezb circles. Though a ceasefire by the Hezb ul Mujahideen, which continues to be a major rebel outfit in Jammu and Kashmir, can bring about a marked change in level of violence, one cannot dismiss the Al Mansoorian, a wing of the Lashkar e Taiba, opposition to the ceasefire as meaningless when its activists have displayed fire power by carrying out series Fidayeen attacks including the one on the Tourist Reception Centre in Srinagar on April 6. Reliable reports said Hezb ul Mujahideen leaders, including Muzaffarabad based United Jehad Council chief, Syed Salahuddin, were being motivated not only by the Indian agencies and Kashmiri separatists but those who matter in Pakistan and occupied Kashmir for declaring a ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir. The idea behind this exercise, according to official sources, is to allow the ongoing talks between Delhi and Islamabad and between Delhi and APHC leaders to progress without major hurdles. When the APHC leaders, during their meeting with the India's Prime Minister, had suggested that the government should direct the troops, operating in Jammu and Kashmir, to declare a ceasefire Mr Manmohan Singh had informed them that the government ceasefire was possible when the militants cease resorting to gun and grenade attacks and infiltration from across the border ended. It is in this context that the Hezb ul Mujahideen was being persuaded to announce a ceasefire. In fact it was in 2000 that Hezb ul Mujahideen operational commander, Abdul Majid Dar, had announced a ceasefire which proved abortive because neither the Kashmiri separatists, nor the Indian agencies handled the matter tactfully with the result Syed Salahuddin opposed it hardly after 24 hours of its declaration though Dar's announcement had his (Syed's) backing. Official sources said that efforts were afoot to prepare Hezb ul Mujahdeen commanders to declare a ceasefire at least in the month of Ramzan. And those working for the ceasefire were confident that ceasefire by the Hezb leadership would be fully reciprocated by the Indian security forces. Will the ongoing moves for a ceasefire fructify? Next 10 days will determine whether the guns in Kashmir fall silent or not.

According to the BBC, these are "separatists". Go figure!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1323635.stm

Thursday, 10 May, 2001, 16:18 GMT 17:18 UK
Six Kashmiri villagers beheaded

Six villagers in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir have been beheaded in an attack blamed on separatist militants.
Police say 11 Hindu villagers were confronted by a group of armed men while grazing cattle in the remote Doda district 250km (150 miles) north-east of Jammu, the state's winter capital.

Several hours later, police found six bodies - all decapitated.

Three other villagers survived the attack with deep wounds to the throat and are now receiving treatment in hospital.

A search is under way for two others who are missing.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the police believe it was carried out by Muslim militants who are known to be active in the area.

It is the third time Hindu villagers in the area have been targeted since the Indian Government announced a unilateral ceasefire in Kashmir last November.

Ceasefire

Militant groups have denounced the ceasefire as a sham designed to influence international opinion and vowed to continue their campaign against Indian rule.

Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir where some 30,000 people have died in nearly 12 years of separatist rebellion.

Delhi says Islamabad arms, trains and funds the guerrillas, some of whom are fighting for an independent homeland, while others want a state within Pakistan.

Islamabad says it provides the militants with moral, not material, support and has no control over their movement.

Supporters of the ceasefire argue that it has helped to create a climate of goodwill by which Pakistan reduced the level of its forces in its part of Kashmir.

The two countries have a long-running border dispute over the frontier state, which has sparked two of their three wars in the last five decades.

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