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| Friday, 24 October 2003 |
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Kashmiri rebels ask civilians not to mediate in stand-offs SRINAGAR, India, Thursday (AFP) Indian troops shot dead five Muslim rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir, while a hardline militant group Thursday appealed to people not to mediate during stand-offs between rebels and troops. Police said Indian army soldiers shot dead three Muslim rebels during a four-hour gunbattle in the central Kashmir district of Budgam late Wednesday. "The fighting erupted during a search operation launched by the Indian army in one of Budgam's villages," the spokesman said, adding some arms and ammunition were recovered from the scene. In the northern Baramulla district, which borders Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Indian troops shot dead two other rebels who were members of the region's dominant group Hizbul Mujahedin, police said. "Both militants were residents of Baramulla district," the spokesman said. Meanwhile, the hardline Islamic group Lashkar-e-Taiba Thursday appealed to residents not to mediate on behalf of troops with rebels during stand-off situations, spokesman Abu Huzaifa told reporters. The comments came after police on Monday accused two rebels, who were holed up inside a house, of taking several people hostage in the Tharin village in the southern Pulwama district including four villagers sent in by the troops to negotiate the surrender of the militants. "I appeal to people not to fall prey to the machinations of the troops and desist from mediating in such conditions as mujahedin do not believe in surrender," Huzaifa said. He said militants did not take hostages and the civilians at Tharin were detained for their own safety. |
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