SRINAGAR, 2 September 2005 — Nine suspected militants, who infiltrated into Indian territory from Pakistani side, were killed by Indian border guards yesterday, sources said.
“The nine were killed during a nightlong clash along the line of control,” army spokesman Vijay Batra said.
Batra said the militants were killed after they had infiltrated into Indian Kashmir from the Pakistani zone of the divided state.
“The group was tracked Wednesday morning and in the evening the fighting started in the northern Nowgam sector,” Batra said, adding the operation in the area was continuing yesterday. “By killing nine militants, the Indian Army has foiled a major attempt by militants to enter (Indian) Kashmir,” he said, adding reinforcements had been sent to search for more rebels in the area.
Kashmir is in the grip of a 16-year-old insurgency against Indian rule.
India accuses Pakistan of fuelling the separatist struggle by arming and funding rebels, while Pakistan counters by accusing the Indian army of human rights violations in the region. The fresh violence hit the state as Kashmir’s moderate separatists prepared to hold their first talks with the Congress party-led government in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited the moderate faction of the region’s main separatist alliance, the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, for talks in New Delhi next Monday to resolve the dispute over Kashmir.
The moderates, accepted the invitation, said they would “proceed with courage” to press for an end to decades of violence in the Himalayan state.
Hurriyat leaders met in Srinagar yesterday to set an agenda for the Sept. 5 meeting, the first between the separatists and Manmohan who took power in May 2004.
“We will be talking for a resolution of the Kashmir issue,” said Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, the head of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference.
“The APHC today unanimously decided to accept the invitation for talks with a view to proceed with seriousness, imagination and courage to find an acceptable and durable solution to the issue of Jammu and Kashmir,” Hurriyat spokesman Abdul Majeed Banday told reporters.
During yesterday’s meeting Omar Farooq got support from all its constituent groups for opening fresh talks with India, Bandey said. He said the Hurriyat delegation would be led by Omar but did not name the other members.
All the top moderate separatists, including Omar, Abbas Ansari, Abdul Gani Bhat and Bilal Lone, attended yesterday’s meeting.
The Indian Express daily, quoting unnamed sources, said that after the meeting the dialogue on the Indian side would be taken forward by a committee that includes New Delhi’s point man on Kashmir, N.N. Vohra.
Separatists have refused to talk to Vohra in the past, saying they want dialogue to remain at the highest level. Hurriyat’s hard-line faction and rebel groups have rejected any dialogue with New Delhi. They want talks on Kashmir to involve India, Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists, a suggestion India opposes.
Yesterday, Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed urged other separatists to join talks. “I am hopeful these groups will see the merit of the talks and join the process,” Sayeed said. “I also appeal to gun-wielding youth to give peace a chance, especially now when a dialogue at the highest level is about to take place to address the problem.”
Police Arrest Asiya Andrabi
The head of the only female separatist group in Kashmir was arrested yesterday after raiding motels and restaurants during a morality campaign to root out snuggling couples and alleged sex workers, police said.
Asiya Andrabi, who heads the separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat, was arrested along with six others on charges of “unauthorized intrusion and illegal activity,” said police officer Munir Khan. — Additional input from agencies.
