India Says It Killed 16 Kashmir Infiltrators

Indian soldiers killed 11 suspected Muslim rebels and five unarmed Bangladeshis trying to sneak into the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir on Friday, police said. Two Indian soldiers also were killed.

Five of the suspected rebels were trying to cross to India’s side of the Line of Control -- the boundary that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan -- about 75 miles north of Srinagar, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

Nearby, soldiers killed three rebels in the Trehgam region, police said. Three suspected rebels were killed in the Kashmir Valley about 60 miles north of Srinagar.

Indian security forces also shot to death five people, described as Bangladeshi civilians, who were crossing the border at Kanachak, 18 miles west of Jammu, police said. Bangladeshis often try to enter India illegally through Pakistan to find jobs. No weapons were found on the men’s bodies, police said.

India and Pakistani troops also pounded each other with artillery along the Line of Control.

The two nations’ troops routinely shell each other, but there has been a comparative lull since April, when leaders of the two countries renewed efforts to resume talks on Kashmir after two years.

The nations have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a Himalayan region to which both nations lay claim.

India accuses Pakistan of training and arming Islamic guerrillas, who cross into the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir and attack civilian and government targets. Pakistan says it supports the militants’ aim of an independent Kashmir or uniting the region with Pakistan, but it denies aiding them.