SRINAGAR,
Oct 15: Suspected rebels killed an Indian army officer and a trooper
during a manhunt in Kashmir, where 22 people have died in spiralling
violence in the past two weeks, officials said Friday.
The soldiers
were chasing rebels in a forested area in southern Kashmir when a gun
battle erupted late Thursday, Colonel Devendar Anand told AFP.
The hunt in the Mendhar region had been intensified since five soldiers were killed nearby three days earlier.
Violence
in the Muslim-majority territory, also claimed by Pakistan, has
escalated since last week, when armed militants staged attacks that left
seven civilians dead, including three from the minority Hindu and Sikh
communities.
Some members of the minority communities have since left
the restive Kashmir valley fearing they will be targeted, media
reported, echoing scenes during another surge in violence in the 1990s
when thousands of Hindus fled the region.
Eight suspected rebels have
also been killed in battles and military raids in the past two weeks,
police said. More than 120 have been killed this year.
The family of
one of the dead suspects has denied that the youth had any links to
recent attacks, saying he was detained by soldiers and killed in a
staged incident in custody. -AFP
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