SRINAGAR, Feb 4 (1997) – Suspected separatist guerrillas shot dead four policemen and five pro-government militants on Tuesday in two separate incidents in Kashmir, police said.
A police spokesman in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, said militants entered a house at Panjipora village in the early morning and opened fire. The village is about 48 km (30 miles) north of Srinagar,
Five militants who support Indian rule in the Himalayan region were killed on the spot, he said.
Later, in the border district of Kupwara, 80 km (50 miles) north of Srinagar, separatist militants opened fire on a group of policemen after they had escorted a van to a bank where it deposited money. Four policemen died, authorities said.
More than a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir, mostly Hindu India’s only Moslem majority state. At least three pro-government militia groups are pitted against the separatists.
More than 20,000 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence since the separatist revolt erupted seven years ago.
