Rebel Leader Among Dead in Kashmir

Ten people, including one of the most wanted militants in the north of strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir state, have been killed in fresh separatist violence, authorities said Tuesday.

An Indian army spokesman said the commander of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba guerrilla group, Abu Hanzla, and his guard were killed in a gun battle in Baramulla, north of Srinagar.

Lashkar-e-Taiba and another militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, were blamed by India for the deadly attack on its Parliament building Dec. 13.

Kashmir is at the center of a military standoff between India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the disputed region since 1947.

The two nuclear rivals have close to 1 million troops mobilized on both sides of the border.

On Monday, two police officers were killed when suspected separatist guerrillas attacked a police patrol in Udhampur district, police said.

Elsewhere, four rebels and two civilians were killed in shootouts in the Himalayan Valley, police said.

About a dozen rebel groups are fighting Indian rule in the Muslim-majority Kashmir region.

Meanwhile, police said they had released prominent separatist campaigner Javid Mir, acting chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, on Tuesday, 20 hours after he had been detained for organizing a protest in Srinagar.