Five killed in Kashmir gunbattles

Five people have died in a number of gunfights throughout the disputed Himalayan province of Kashmir today, according to local police.

Two armed guerrillas and a civilian bystander were killed during a shoot-out with police in Anantnag district.

The guerrillas were reportedly members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar e-Tayyaba group.

The district commander from the Hezb ul-Mujahideen militant group was also killed in a separate gunbattle in Tral, while the director of a cable television company was shot dead by an unidentified gunman in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir.

Lashkar e-Tayyaba and Hezb ul-Mujahideen are two of more than a dozen militant groups fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or a merger with Pakistan.

Human rights organisations say at least 60,000 people have died since the fighting began in 1989. Kashmir is a mainly Muslim province in Hindu-dominated India.

The province is divided by a ceasefire line, with Pakistan controlling around one-third of Kashmir territory and India the rest.