Rebels, woman die in Kashmir battle

28 Sep 2009, 5:42 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Three Islamic militants and a female bystander have been killed during a fierce gunbattle with soldiers in Indian-ruled Kashmir, police say.

Three Islamic militants and a female bystander have been killed during a fierce gunbattle with soldiers in Indian-ruled Kashmir, police say.

Fighting broke out near Tral town, about 40km south of the regional capital of Srinagar, when Indian troops raided a suspected militant hideout on Monday.

"A woman was killed in the crossfire," a police spokesman said, adding that three troopers were injured.

Two of the dead militants were Pakistani nationals, he said.

Muslim rebels have been waging an insurgency since 1989 against India's rule of the region in a conflict that has left more than 47,000 people dead.

Small groups of fighters from Pakistan-administered Kashmir have made repeated attempts to cross into India in recent months.

Despite the latest deaths, violence in the region has declined sharply since India and Pakistan, whose territorial dispute over Kashmir has triggered two wars, embarked on a peace process in 2004.

Talks were suspended in the wake of the militant attacks last November on India's financial capital Mumbai, in which 166 people died.

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