Troops intensify drive against Kashmir rebels
AFP, Srinagar
The Indian army said yesterday a campaign to hunt down suspected Kashmiri militants in Kashmir had left 90 rebels dead since the launch of a bus service last month meant to signal peace in the divided state. The army campaign is being waged against suspected militants in the Indian zone of the state and is aided by an extensive network of fences built by India in the past decade to stop militants crossing from Pakistan, a senior Indian army officer said. "We have intensified operations against militants given the people's yearning for peace," the officer, who declined to be named, said. The operations are being waged despite a ceasefire by India and Pakistan along the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir and the launch of a bus service April 7 to reunite divided families in the state as part of a peace process begun 15 months ago. "The militants were killed in nearly 60 clashes with troops across the state since the bus launch on April 7," the officer told AFP.
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