Kashmiri Rebels Claim 2 Hostages Hurt : South Asia: Muslim separatists holding five Westerners report pair wounded in gun battle.

Muslim separatists holding an American and four European tourists hostage said two of the captives were wounded Friday in a gun battle between the Kashmiri militants and Indian forces.

But the Indian government denied a gunfight had occurred.

The Al-Faran group, in a statement issued in Srinagar, said two Indian soldiers were killed and several others wounded in the 25-minute battle. The group said one rebel was seriously injured.

It did not say which two hostages were wounded or whether the injuries were serious. But it said the rebels “were successful in taking the tourists to a safe place alive.”

The captives--an American, two Britons, a German and a Norwegian--were kidnaped beginning July 4 near the tourist town of Pahalgam as they hiked through the remote Himalayan mountains of Kashmir in northern India.

On Friday, heavy rains fell in the area and temperatures dropped to below 60 degrees, possibly colder in the mountains where the hostages were kidnaped at 10,000 to 12,000 feet.

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Concern was growing about the hostages’ health, as there are few huts in the area for shelter and the hostages may lack a change of clothes. In three sets of photographs Al-Faran has released, the captives are seen in the same outfits they were wearing when kidnaped.

Al-Faran issued a statement Thursday night reiterating a threat to kill the hostages unless Indian forces stop searching for them and free 21 jailed Kashmiri guerrillas.

But at least 12 parties of 10 to 12 policemen, federal agents and nomads each were searching where the hostages are believed held.

The captives are Donald Hutchings, 42, of Spokane, Wash.; Paul Wells, 23, of London; Keith Mangan, 33, of Middlesbrough, England; Dirk Hasert, 26, of Erfurt, Germany; and Hans Christian Ostero, 27, of Oslo.

Rebel groups in Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-dominated state in predominantly Hindu India, have been fighting for independence for five years.

Islamic Pakistan has fought two wars with India over Kashmir, which is divided between the two countries.

On Thursday, at least 37 people were killed, including 17 by a bomb that rebels apparently detonated in a motor scooter in a marketplace in Jammu, a mostly Hindu city about 100 miles south of Srinagar.