World IN BRIEF : INDIA : 47 Killed as Muslims Battle Police, Army

At least 47 people, mostly Muslim militants fighting Indian rule in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, were killed in gun battles raging across the Himalayan region bordering Pakistan, police and rebel sources said. Eight soldiers and five civilians were among those killed. India rules two-thirds of Kashmir, with Islamic Pakistan controlling the rest. The two countries have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 over Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state. Most militant groups want the region to become part of Pakistan.