JAMMU, Aug 30 (1992): Army soldiers shot dead 12 suspected Moslem militants overnight when they tried to enter Indian-administered Kashmir from the Pakistani section of the divided province, officials here said Sunday. Several other Moslem rebels were injured in the skirmish but escaped into the Pakistani-administered zone called Azad or Free Kashmir, a defence ministry spokesman said in Jammu, the north Indian state's winter capital. He said Pakistani soldiers in Azad Kashmir began firing in Poonch late Saturday as a...

JAMMU, Aug 30 (1992): Army soldiers shot dead 12 suspected Moslem militants overnight when they tried to enter Indian-administered Kashmir from the Pakistani section of the divided province, officials here said Sunday. Several other Moslem rebels were injured in the skirmish but escaped into the Pakistani-administered zone called Azad or Free Kashmir, a defence ministry spokesman said in Jammu, the north Indian state's winter capital. He said Pakistani soldiers in Azad Kashmir began firing in Poonch late Saturday as a...

JAKARTA, Aug 28 (1992): Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao is to hold talks on the disputed region of Kashmir with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif here next week, sources from both countries said Friday. A Pakistani official said that a meeting between the two leaders had been scheduled for Thursday on Kashmir, over which the two countries have fought two wars. The two leaders were due to arrive here over the weekend for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit from September 1-6. But diplomats said the...

NEW DELHI, Aug 26 (1992): Indian forces shot down a Pakistan military helicopter on their common border, killing a brigadier flying on it, press reports Wednesday quoted Defence Minister Sharad Pawar as saying. Pawar told a press conference in Bombay Tuesday that the incident took place "sometime between August 17 and 18," The Times of India said. The two countries' foreign secretaries were holding talks in New Delhi at the time in a bid to reduce bilateral tensions. The Hindustan Times quoted an unnamed...

JAMMU, Aug 25 (1992): At least 40 people were injured in violence Tuesday in this Kashmiri city as an indefinite general strike began to protest the arrest of Hindu activists and five Moslem rebels were killed in a security sweep . Protestors stoned and damaged more than 25 vehicles and fought pitched battles with police, who fired tear gas and repeatedly baton-charged the crowds in six districts of Jammu, officials and witnesses said. Among the injured were six policemen, two of whom were said to be in serious...

JAMMU, Aug 17 (1992): Four Indian soldiers have been killed in three days of fighting with Pakistani troops on their Kashmir border, Indian defence officials said Monday. Pakistani casualties were not known, the officials said, adding the clashes were continuing. Indian authorities accused the Pakistani troops of using the fighting to infiltrate Moslem militants into Indian-controlled Kashmir and said tension was building in the area. India and Pakistan frequently clash on the line of control separating the...

NEW DELHI, Aug 17 (1992): India and Pakistan launched three days of confidence-building talks here Monday, but almost immediately differences surfaced over the framework for discussions on the Kashmir dispute. The talks began as the Indian-controlled Kashmir valley was paralysed by a general strike called by Moslem separatists to mourn Pakistan President Zia-ul Haq, who died in a mysterious plane crash on August 17, 1988. Moslem militants staged rocket, grenade and bomb attacks in the troubled valley overnight Sunday...

ISLAMABAD, Aug 16 (1992): Pakistan reprimanded Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao on Sunday for saying at the weekend that disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir was an integral part of India and no force on earth could alienate it. A Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman, quoted by the official APP news agency, called Rao's remarks "unfortunate and unhelpful". He also accused the premier of repeating "baseless allegations" by accusing Pakistan of interfering in the Indian-ruled Kashmir and the adjoining Punjab...

SRINAGAR, Aug 16 (1992): At least 40 people have died in separatist-linked violence in Kashmir in the last three days, while two townships have been placed under an indefinite curfew, officials said Sunday. The renewed violence erupted when Moslem militants went ahead with plans to celebrate Pakistan's independence day across the Kashmir valley on Friday and launch protests on Saturday, India's independence anniversary. Police and hospital officials here in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state said Sunday...

NEW DELHI, Aug 16 (1992): A senior Pakistani official arrived in New Delhi on Sunday for talks which he said would focus on current tensions with India over the disputed Kashmir region. The United News of India (UNI) quoted Pakistani Foreign Secretary Shahryar Khan, Islamabad's highest ranking diplomat, as saying he would discuss the Kashmir issue with his Indian counterpart Jyotindra Nath Dixit. Khan said the two countries "may have diametrically opposite views (on Kashmir) but where there is a will there is a...