Troops kill 15 suspected rebels in Kashmir

Indian troops killed 15 suspected Islamic guerillas during a fierce gunfight today in Jammu-Kashmir state.

The battle was continuing in a forest in Anantnag district, 35 miles south of Srinagar, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

More than a dozen separatist rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India, or its merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

The 13 year insurgency has left more than 63,000 people dead.

Today’s fighting came despite recent peace overtures by India and Pakistan which have raised hopes that violence could abate in Kashmir.

Both South Asian nuclear rivals claim the whole of the Himalayan province.

They have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.

India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the Islamic guerrillas.

Pakistan denies the charge, saying it extends only diplomatic and moral support to them.