Senior commander among three rebels killed in Indian Kashmir

Oct 26, 2009, 12:04 GMT

   Srinagar, Kashmir - Security forces killed three Muslim militants in combat including a rebel commander in India-administered Kashmir on Monday, police said.

   The divisional rebel commander known as Saqib was killed along with two others in a village in the Shopian district, 50 kilometres south of state capital Srinagar.

   'We were able to trap the group of militants in the village and in the gunfight that followed, Saqib, a senior militant commander from the Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed,' the state's top police official, Farooq Ahmed, told reporters.

   'Saqib was responsible for several killings and bombing in south Kashmir,' he said. Security forces suffered no casualties.

   'We had not been able to track this militant for quite some time now. This is a significant success we have been able to achieve,' Ahmed added.

   A cache of rebel arms and ammunition was also seized, he said.

India accuses Pakistan of training militants and helping Kashmiri rebels to foment trouble in India-administered Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies.

   The two countries have fought two wars over the disputed Kashmir region. More than 45,000 people have died in the secessionist strife in India-administered Kashmir since the late 1980s.