Gunbattles kill 10 in Indian Kashmir

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
At least four troops and six rebels were killed Sunday morning as gunbattles between government forces and suspected Islamic insurgents raged for a third day in a densely forested region of Indian Kashmir, the Indian army said. The fighting started Friday morning when a combined group of Indian troops and police, acting on a tip that militants were hiding in the area, started an operation to flush them out, said Lt. Col. J.S. Brar, an Indian army spokesman. The Shamsbari area is about 75 miles north of Indian Kashmir's main city of Srinagar. Intermittent firing in the area continued Sunday morning, Brar said, calling it the first major gunbattle in the region this year. He said the fighting was protracted because the difficult terrain prevented troops from using heavy weapons.