SRINAGAR, May 26 (1997): An army officer, three soldiers and two suspected separatist guerrillas were killed in a gunbattle in Kashmir, an Indian defence spokesman said on Monday. The fighting occurred late on Sunday after the army received a tip that a group of rebels were hiding in the village of Butwani, 22 km (13 miles) northeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu and Kashmir state, army officials said. Soldiers cordoned off the village and launched a house-to-house search for the militants, they...

JAMMU, May 20 (1997): India will start fencing its border with Pakistan in Kashmir to prevent arms smuggling into the Himalayan state, an Indian minister said Tuesday. Mohammed Maqbool Dar, federal minister of state for home affairs, said New Delhi would not discuss the fencing of the 187-kilometer (116-mile) border with authorities in Islamabad. "Pakistan has nothing to do with it," Dar told reporters in this winter capital of Kashmir state. "We have the right to fence the border for checking infiltration (by...

NEW DELHI, May 14 (1997): India on Wednesday accused Pakistan of aiding the abductors of four Western tourists kidnapped nearly two years ago in Kashmir, and said New Delhi had sought Islamabad's help in securing their release. Junior Personnel Minister S.R. Balasubramoniyan told parliament the government was aware of statements by the hostages' relatives that Pakistan knew the abductors. "The government has, through diplomatic channels, consistently been urging the Pakistani authorities to help in securing the...

SRINAGAR, May 12 (1997): A strike called to protest against alleged human rights violations by Indian security forces kept shops and schools closed in Kashmir's main city, Srinagar, on Monday. The two-day strike was called by the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, Kashmir's leading separatist coalition that groups some 30 religious and political organisations. "We appeal to people of Kashmir to observe a two-day strike from May 12 to protest against gross human rights violations and rape of our women by Indian...

NEW DELHI, May 12 (1997): Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral has indicated that India would not compromise with Pakistan over the divided region of Kashmir in bilateral negotiations due to be held on Monday. In an interview with the Economic Times published on Monday Gujral said: "It must be understood that there are certain irreducible interests in every country and the secular unity and territorial integrity of India is one such." "There can be no compromise on these issues." Gujral was apparently referring...

SRINAGAR, May 11 (1997): Gunbattles between Moslem separatists and Indian troops and abductions in Kashmir left 19 people dead Sunday, police and other source said. One fierce gunbattle left six militants and an Indian soldier dead at Bahkihukam village in Handwara district, 82 kilometers (51 miles) north of Srinagar. Troops surrounded the village to arrest separatist activists. "The militants immediately opened fire using automatic rifles and mortar guns on the troops," the police spokesman said. Witnesses in the...

JAMMU, May 11 (1997): Separatist guerrillas shot dead three teenaged Hindus after abducting them in Kashmir, the police said here Sunday. The bullet-ridden bodies of the abducted boys were found Saturday night in the forests of Doda, a mountainous district in Kashmir's southern region, the police said. They were abducted earlier Saturday by unidentified militants in Doda. The murders came a day after three more Hindus were shot dead by their abductors in the region. (For complete story write to...

SRINAGAR, May 9 (1997):Four Indian soldiers were Friday sentenced to 10 years hard labour in prison for raping two women in the troubled state of Kashmir, an army spokesman said here. Major S. Purushottam said the army court had found them guilty of raping two women last year and had them "dismissed from service and awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment. "The army has taken prompt and appropriate action against the accused soldiers." Kashmir's outgoing army chief J.S. Dhillon said Thursday that any soldier found...

SRINAGAR, May 8 (1997): Kashmir's leading separatist alliance on Thursday said human rights violations by Indian security forces had increased at an alarming rate in recent months, but authorities denied the allegation. "The human rights violations, rape of our women and the killings at the hands of Indian security forces in Kashmir in recent months are at an all-time high," Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, said. "The situation is alarming," he told a news conference. (For...

NEW DELHI, May 7 (1997): India must agree to discuss the future of divided Kashmir with Pakistan for bilateral ties to improve, Islamabad's ambassador to New Delhi said on Wednesday. High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi said his country had high hopes for peace talks which were launched in March and will resume next week when the two nations' prime ministers meet on the fringes of a regional summit in the Maldives. But progress will be slow, and Islamabad will not allow the normalisation of relations unless the...