SRINAGAR, 6 November 2007 — Indian troops shot dead seven suspected militants in separate gunbattles in Kashmir, officials said yesterday, the day the pro-Independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) postponed its Jammu phase of the Safar-e-Azadi (Journey of Freedom) scheduled to begin from the hilly Doda district.
Two of the militants were killed in northern Kupwara district when they illegally crossed into Indian Kashmir from the Pakistani zone of the divided state late Sunday, an army statement said.
Indian troops also shot dead five more militants in three separate gunbattles in southern Doda and Kulgam districts late Sunday, a police statement said. Two of the dead were “wanted commanders” of two pro-Pakistan militant groups, it said.
Meanwhile, JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, who returned here yesterday after the district authorities in Doda disallowed his march while talking to newsmen said, “Our intention is to spread the message of brotherhood to the people of Jammu region and talk to people at the grass root level.”
“We want to sent out a message to both India and Pakistan that people of the state cannot be ignored while seeking a solution to the issue.” Malik said that the 114 days Safar-e-Azadi march in valley which started from Kokernag village in May this year and passed through major towns and villages of the valley was peaceful.
