Security forces kill top militant in gun battle in Indian Kashmir

Oct 8, 2011, 12:30 GMT

New Delhi - A top rebel commander was killed in a gun battle with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir on Saturday, a news report said.

The militant, identified as Azad Hussein Wani, from Hizbul Mujahideen, the region's biggest rebel group, was shot dead in combat with a joint police-army team in the Doda district, the IANS news agency reported.

Security forces cordoned of a forested region in the district, 180 kilometres north-east of the state's winter capital of Jammu, after receiving information about the presence of a militant in the area.

'There was a firefight after the militant refused to surrender. The security forces killed the militant in a short gun battle,' an army spokesman told the IANS.

Wani, active in the area since 1998, was involved in numerous civilian killings and extortion. The spokesman described the killing as a 'big success for security forces and a blow to Hizbul in Doda'.

The disputed Kashmir region is divided into two parts, one administered by India the other by Pakistan, who have fought two wars over the disputed region.

More than 45,000 people have died in violence since the secessionist militant movement emerged in the 1980s.

India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of aiding Kashmiri militants. Islamabad has denied the charge, calling the insurgents freedom fighters.

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