Two rebel commanders killed in Kashmir

INDIA: Indian troops in Kashmir shot dead two commanders of a hardline Islamic rebel group, police said Thursday, while suspected rebels also shot dead a 50-year-old woman.

The two self-styled area and section commanders of Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in a fierce gunbattle in southern Doda district late Wednesday, a police spokesman said in Srinagar.

He identified the two as Shabir Ahmed and Ashiq Hussain.

"The militants were holding a meeting at Shabir Ahmed's house, when army and police raided the place on a tip-off," the spokesman said, adding the house was completely destroyed in the ensuing three-hour battle.

"A search is ongoing for a possible third militant's body," the spokesman said, describing the deaths as a setback to the group that India accuses of having links to July 11 Mumbai train bombings that killed over 180 people.

Police said suspected rebels also raided the house of a 50-year-old woman, identified as Raja Begum, in northern Baramulla district late Wednesday and shot her dead.

More than 44,000 people have died from violence in Kashmir since a rebellion against Indian rule erupted in 1989, according to Indian records. Separatists say the toll is more than double that figure.

Srinagar, Thursday, AFP