SRINAGAR (Islamweb & Agencies) - At least 17 people, including eight civilians, were killed and several were injured in scattered violence across Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, Indian police said on Saturday.Fighting has flared in the mountainous region since the United States began attacking Muslim militants in Afghanistan this month. More than 150 people have died, mostly Muslim Resistance men whom India says have bases across the border in Pakistan.
Defense Minister George Fernandes said India was plotting a new way to combat the Resistance more effectively, but gave no details.
The latest reported casualties included six civilians killed by militants who forced their way into their homes in Doda district late on Friday. (Read photo caption below)
In a village 10 miles west of Srinagar, Kashmir's main city, three militants holed up in a mosque fought a gunbattle with security forces. Officials would not confirm reports that the militants in the mosque had been killed.
Police also said four Resistance men belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen, a frontline separatist group, were killed in a clash with security forces and three civilians were injured during the exchange of fire in Rajouri district.
A dozen Resistance groups are fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. The authorities say more than 30,000 people have died in nearly 11 years of uprising against Indian rule. Resistance sources put the toll nearer 80,000.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A Kashmiri man is placed on a stretcher for treatment after a grenade blast in Srinagar October 27, 2001. Police said that 18 people, including four Indian security force personnel, were wounded in a string of grenade explosions at three different locations in Srinagar, the summer capital of troubled Jammu and Kashmir state. (Reuters)