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| Sunday, 31 July 2005 |
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Clashes continue in Srinagar July 30- (AFP) - Intense clashes between troops and Islamic militants holed up in the heart of Indian Kashmir's summer capital of Srinagar continued into Saturday, leaving dozens of civilians trapped, police said. The fighting, which started Friday, has left two security force personnel dead and 20 others injured - seven news cameramen and photographers, five security force personnel and eight civilians. "One of the cameramen is critical," a doctor at the main hospital in Srinagar said. "Intermittent firing continued throughout the night," Border Security Force officer K. Srinivasan told AFP at the scene. He said firing intensified early Saturday around dawn when troops targeted the two buildings where they suspected the militants were hiding out. The fighting is taking place near Srinagar's Lal Chowk - Indian Kashmir's main commercial hub - and the scene of many such clashes in a separatist conflict that has claimed more than 44,000 lives since 1989. "Both sides were exchanging fire and grenades," a police officer said. The clashes broke out Friday late afternoon when one or two armed militants attacked a paramilitary bunker with rifle fire and a grenade, sparking panic. The militants later barricaded themselves inside a shopping complex and a hotel, and exchanged heavy fire with security forces. "We are drilling holes in the buildings where militants are to try to enter and neutralise them," said a security forces spokesman, Manhas, who uses only one name. |
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