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Jammu: Rebels believed to be holding six hostages traded gunfire with police and soldiers in Indian Kashmir yesterday, leaving at least four people dead and raising fears the militants were looking to exploit unrest that has roiled the Himalayan region for two months.
With the rebels toting assault weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, authorities evacuated the densely populated neighbourhood where they were holed up.
The hostage crisis came as authorities in the Kashmir Valley relaxed a three-day curfew, allowing residents to buy food and other supplies after days of protests demanding an end to Indian rule in the region.
But Indian forces maintained a visible presence, patrolling on foot and armoured vehicles. Authorities also kept the curfew in place in downtown Srinagar, Indian Kashmir's main city, which is considered a stronghold of separatist groups leading the protests.
Curfew review
"We will review how the relaxation hours go and accordingly take a decision for Thursday," Masud Samoon, a senior Kashmiri official, said.
The unrest in Kashmir has left at least 40 people dead, many of them killed by soldiers who have repeatedly opened fire on Muslim protesters demanding an end to Indian rule in region. The unrest is the worst to hit Kashmir in more than a decade.
The crisis began in June when Muslims launched protests over a government plan to transfer land to a Hindu shrine in Kashmir. The plan was quickly scrapped - angering the region's Hindu minority - but the Muslim protests have continued to snowball into a broader anti-India movement.
Throughout, Indian officials have voiced fears that militants based in Pakistan - which controls about a third of Kashmir - could use the unrest to sneak across the heavily fortified frontier that bisects the region.
Troops along the frontier, known as the Line of Control, have been on high alert, but they apparently missed the three rebels involved in yesterday's shootout with police and soldiers. Police say the three sneaked into Indian Kashmir early Tuesday morning after cutting through three metres of barbed wire about 30 kilometers west of Jammu.
Hiding with hostages
They then made their way to Jammu and were hiding yesterday inside a two-story concrete building in a crowded area on the outskirts of the city, said senior police official K. Rajendra.
The militants were holding at least six people, including four children, and by late afternoon the situation had settled into a tense standoff, with the well-armed militants facing off against scores of police and soldiers.
Rajendra added that at least four people - a militant, a soldier and two civilians - had been killed in the gun battles that flared throughout the day.
Kashmir has been divided between Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan since 1947 when the two fought their first war over the region in the aftermath of Britain's bloody partition of the subcontinent. Both countries continue to claim Kashmir in its entirety, but there have been numerous separatist movements in India's part of the region.
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