Maoists kill 12 wedding guests

INDIA: Suspected communist rebels triggered a land mine Tuesday as a bus filled with wedding guests traveled down a road in western India, killing 12 people, a news report said. The attack took place in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra state, more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) southeast of New Delhi, Press Trust of India news agency said, quoting unidentified police officials.

It was not immediately known whether the bride and groom were traveling in that bus. It was not immediately clear why the wedding party was targeted, or whether it was a random attack. The rebels, known as Naxalites, sometimes target villagers who they believe are working against them. Meanwhile The army killed four suspected Islamic militants during a gunbattle after cordoning off a mountainous village in the Indian portion of Kashmir, an army officer said.

The fight erupted after the army began searching for suspected insurgents following a tip that they were hiding in the village of Khari, the officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

The exchange of gunfire was continuing in the area, but there were no army casualties so far, the officer said.

The region is 200 kilometers north of Jammu, the winter capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state.

New Delhi, Tuesday, AP