Indian soldiers take up positions in a battle with Kashmiri fighters

SRINAGAR, Kashmir, September 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Fifteen rebels fighters were killed here on Monday, September 29, by Indian troops' gunfire, as nascent peace moves between India and Pakistan have suffered "a slight setback" echoed at the U.N. General Assembly.

Indian officials said that the troops opened their fire after "militants" crossed over from the Pakistani zone of Kashmir into the Indian side of the territory, reported Agence France-Presse.

"The 15 rebels were shot after crossing the Line of Control (LoC)," the de facto border, into Indian Kashmir's northwestern Gurez sector in Baramullah district, army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mukhtar Singh said.

"Fifteen bodies have been recovered so far but as per intercepts, the figure is much higher," he added.

The latest clash took to 355 the number of people killed since the August 30 slaying of top fighters' commander Ghazi Baba, which sparked a surge of revenge attacks by his fighters.

An army officer on condition of anonymity said Israeli-made thermal imagers had helped the Indian army detect the rebels.

Mountainous Gurez has also been under artillery fire from the Pakistani zone for the past two weeks, Singh said, accusing Pakistani gunners of shelling the sector to help fighters sneak into Indian Kashmir.

The Indian army in Kashmir's winter capital of Jammu also reported renewed cross-border firing Monday from Pakistan into the frontier sectors of southern Rajouri district.

A teenaged boy was killed and a soldier injured in overnight attacks that targeted civilian areas and defense establishments of Rajouri.

The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), a separatist group, wants the complete independence of Kashmir from India and Pakistan, which hold the scenic Himalayan region in parts and claim it in full.

'Slight Setback'  

The clashes erupted as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee returned from New York Sunday, September 28, with comments that peace moves with Pakistan had suffered "slight setback" by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's remarks at the U.N. General Assembly.

"There are problems and these need to be resolved through talks," said Vajpayee, who during a trip to Kashmir on April 18 set in motion the new initiatives by extending a "hand of friendship" to nuclear rival Pakistan.

"Yes, the peace initiative has suffered a slight setback and greater vigor should be imparted to this process now," Vajpayee said.

The two South Asian foes clashed bitterly in the United Nations with Vajpayee and Musharraf hurling allegations at each other in the world body.

Vajpayee labeled Pakistan a terrorist blackmailer in a speech Thursday, September 25, to the General Assembly, a day after Musharraf proposed a ceasefire along the LoC, saying Islamabad would help reduce violence in Kashmir in return for "reciprocal obligations and restraints on Indian forces".

Vajpayee retorted and said the proposal amounted to a "public admission" by Islamabad of its support to the rebellion.

The two nuclear neighbors had fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over Muslim-majority Himlayan region of Kashmir.

More than 38,000 people have died in Indian-administered Kashmir since the eruption of anti-Indian rebellion in the restive region in 1989. Rebels put the toll between 80,000 and 100,000, according to an AFP toll.

Pakistan and India reduced their diplomatic relations and cut off rail and air links in escalatory moves following December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament.

India blamed the attack on Pakistan-backed Kashmiri fighters while Pakistan repudiated the allegations.

On May 2, Pakistan and India restored full diplomatic ties to settle half a century of disputes "for the economic and social betterment of their peoples."

The jerky start to peace moves led to the resumption of a bi-weekly bus service and the restoration of full diplomatic links but the two rivals are yet to re-start train or air services which were cut amid war tensions last year.