Wounded Kashmir Captive Termed Critical

Kashmiri rebels holding five Westerners hostage said Sunday that one of the two captives who was wounded in a gun battle between separatists and soldiers is in critical condition.

The Al-Faran group said in a statement that soldiers had raided their hide-outs in the Pahalgam area five times since the hostages were kidnaped July 4. The government denied claims that such gun battles occurred.

The group is holding an American, two Britons, a German and a Norwegian.

Rebels said Friday that a gun battle left two soldiers dead and several people wounded, including two of the hostages and a guerrilla. It did not say which hostages had been wounded.

The statement, released in the state capital, Srinagar, said the clash occurred Thursday, when soldiers raided a hide-out in Kapran and militants retaliated. An earlier communique said the shootout was Friday.

“If the Indian forces do not stop raiding our hide-outs, the consequences will be serious,” it said.

It said there would be “no guarantee until when the hostages will live” unless the Indian government meets its demand to free 21 jailed separatists.

Rebel groups in Jammu-Kashmir, the only majority Muslim state in predominantly Hindu India, have been fighting for independence for five years. Pakistan has fought two wars with India over the region.

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