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Musharraf Remains Hopeful Despite More Deaths in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India, July 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - In the wake of this week's failed peace talks between India and Pakistan on Kashmir, 15 people, including 13 Muslim activists, were killed in separate incidents in Indian-administered Kashmir, Indian police and army said Thursday.
Worldwide attention has focused on Kashmir in the past week as its nuclear-rival neighbors left unfulfilled a historic summit discussing the fate of the disputed Himalayan territory, where despite ongoing violence between Kashmiri activists and the Indian army, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf still hopes for peace.
In one of Thursday's incidents, two activists were killed and two assault rifles recovered in an encounter with Indian security personnel on the outskirts of Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar, a police spokesman said.
However, witnesses contradicted the police, saying the two were arrested and later shot dead.
In another incident, security personnel killed "two heavily armed Pakistani mercenaries" as they tried to cross the de facto border, the Line of Control (LoC), into Indian-held Kashmir, an army statement said.
Another seven activists were killed in four separate encounters with Indian security personnel in the border districts of Kupwara and Udhampur, the police spokesman said.
A fierce gunbattle also broke out Thursday evening between security forces and Muslim separatists at Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar, he said.
"The gunfight lasted for about two hours and two militants have been killed," the spokesman said. A building used by the activists as their hideout had also been destroyed, he added.
In another incident, two residents of Chaknarwao village, 90 miles south of Srinagar, were killed in a bomb blast, the spokesman said.
Another villager was seriously wounded in the explosion, the impact of which was felt within a 1.2-mile radius, he added.
Meanwhile, heavily armed men - suspected by Indian police to be Muslim activists - held up a bank in Srinagar and stole 420,000 rupees ($8,936), the spokesman said.
At least 35,000 people have been killed in Kashmir since Muslim activists rose up against Indian rule in 1989.
Kashmir, over which two of India and Pakistan's three wars have been fought, was the central issue during two days of peace talks in Agra between Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, which ended late Monday after disagreement over Kashmir spiked a proposed joint declaration.
But despite the lack of substantial progress on Kashmir, Musharraf is determined to keep up the peace process with India, reports said Thursday.
The general told the National Security Council (NSC) and cabinet Wednesday that he would pursue more dialogue with Vajpayee to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
Both countries have denied a deadlock presently exists after the Agra summit ended without a final declaration, and both said the talks marked the beginning of a new dialogue process after a two-year freeze.
"I am upset but still optimistic and determined to pursue the process of dialogue with India," The Nation, a daily, quoted Musharraf as telling the NSC.
"Though the summit could not produce a joint declaration, the nine-point draft will help provide a basis for future dialogue."
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