NEW DELHI, Feb 2 (1998): Indian troops killed two suspected Moslem separatist guerrillas in Kashmir, including one nicknamed the “Butcher of Pakistan,” the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Monday.
It identified the men as top-ranking guerrillas from the Harkat-ur-Ansar separatist group, which is fighting for Kashmir’s integration into Pakistan.
India claims the group consists of mercenaries from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
PTI identified one of the dead as Qasim Bhai, saying he was known by the alias of “Butcher of Pakistan.”
The two were shot Sunday in Kashmir’s Doda district, the site of a massacre last week of 23 Hindus by alleged Moslem rebels.
The Moslem-majority Himalayan territory is divided between India and Pakistan and has sparked two wars between them.
Indian-administered Kashmir has been plagued by a separatist rebellion that has left more than 20,000 dead since 1989.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and infiltrating guerrillas into its part of Kashmir. Islamabad says its support is limited to diplomacy.
