Kashmir battles continue as rivals consider peace plan

Islamic gunmen stormed a police base in Kashmir, killing two officers, and cross-border shelling killed at least 28 other people today amid international efforts to avert a full-fledged war between nuclear powers India and Pakistan.

The new violence followed a US State Department warning that ‘‘irresponsible elements’’ in India and Pakistan could spark a conflict against the wishes of both governments.

‘‘The climate is very charged and a serious conflagration could ensue if events spiral out of control,’’ spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Pakistan’s UN ambassador said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had proposed setting up a 300 man helicopter-borne monitoring force to monitor the Line of Control separating Indian and Pakistan controlled Kashmir.

Munir Akram said Mr Straw made the proposal during meetings this week in Islamabad.

‘‘As far as Pakistan is concerned, if India was to accept that, we would also consider accepting that on both sides of the Line of Control to monitor the situation,’’ Akram said.

But the ambassador also added to tensions by saying that Islamabad has never ruled out using nuclear weapons first in a conflict. India has a no-first-use policy.

‘‘India should not have the licence to kill with conventional weapons while our hands are tied’’ by removing the first-use option, said Ambassador Munir Akram in New York.

However, Indian and Pakistani officials have repeatedly said that a nuclear conflict is unlikely.

‘‘India has not ever spoken about nuclear weapons. Its policy is clear, unambiguous and explicit,’’ said Jaswant Singh, India’s foreign minister. ‘‘It’s no first use that remains the country’s policy.’’

The nightmare scenario of a nuclear war has caused US experts to project eight to 12 million deaths immediately among the 1.2 billion people in the two countries, and radiation fallout over millions more.

Diplomatic efforts to ease tensions have been complicated by militant attacks, which India says Pakistan encourages. Pakistan insists it has done all it can to stop cross-border incursions by Islamic militants based in its territory.

Militants raided the base in Doda overnight and remained holed up in its armoury at midday, said a police spokesman . It was unclear how many guerrillas were inside.

Police were being evacuated from the building, and officials were considering blowing up parts of it to try to flush out the militants, the official said.

When police officers went to retrieve the bodies of their two dead, the militants hurled grenades, wounding five officers, he said. Police had said earlier that three officers had been killed.

The base is in a suspected stronghold of Islamic rebels in a mountainous area 110 miles northeast of Jammu, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

At least 14 people - three Indian army soldiers and 11 civilians - were killed in overnight artillery shelling and mortar fire from the Pakistani side, said another Indian police official.

About 20 people were also wounded from shrapnel and gunfire as small arms fire continued in the border areas of Punch and Naushahra, he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Television reported that 14 civilians were killed in Pakistan by Indian shelling overnight.

The shelling in Kashmir resumed soon after Mr Straw left the subcontinent after visiting Musharraf in Islamabad and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to mediate one-on-one talks between the two leaders during an Asian summit in Kazakhstan next week. Pakistan has accepted, but India has ruled out any negotiations until the cross-border attacks stop.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they gained independence from Britain in 1947. Two of the wars were over Kashmir, which both claim in its entirety.