18 Killed in Kashmir Battles

A leader of the Shia Muslim community and six separatists were among 18 people killed in a land-mine blast and gun battles in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said. “Militants detonated [an explosive device] at Kanihama when the vehicle carrying the Shia leader Agha Syed Mehdi along with five others passed through the area, killing them,” a police spokesman said. Earlier, four Indian soldiers and four separatist militants were killed in daylong gun battle at Wathora village, 13 miles west of Srinagar. Elsewhere, two militants and two civilians were killed in separate shootouts, police said.