SRINAGAR, Feb 2 (2003): A senior paramilitary officer and a leader of a banned Pakistan-based rebel group were killed in overnight violence in Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.
They were killed in a shootout between the militants and an Indian Border Security Force (BSF) patrol in a residential area in Srinagar, the BSF spokesman said.
“Assistant Commandant Mukesh Bisht made the supreme sacrifice,” the spokesman said.
Bisht was wounded in a gunbattle in which he shot dead Vakas Afghani, district commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad and succumbed to his injuries, the spokesman said, adding that Afghani comes from Rawlakot in Pakistan.
BSF soldiers also shot dead another militant late on Saturday in the district of Budgam, he said.
New Delhi says the rebels fighting its rule in the disputed Himalayan state are trained and supported by Pakistan.
Islamabad denies backing the guerrillas with guns or training and says it only gives moral and diplomatic support to what it calls a legitimate Kashmiri struggle for self-determination.
Separatist violence has continued unabated since a new coalition government took power in November, promising to bring a “healing touch” to Jammu and Kashmir, torn by a rebellion since 1989.
Officials say more than 38,000 people have been killed in 13-years of separatist violence in the region. Separatists put the number closer to 80,000, however.
