Indian soldier, rebel killed in Kashmir fighting
Tuesday - 9/25/2012, 4:31am ET
SRINAGAR, India (AP) - The Indian army says a fierce gunbattle in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir has killed a suspected rebel and a soldier.
Army spokesman Col. Brijesh Pandey says the fighting erupted early Tuesday when soldiers challenged militants hiding in a forest village.
Pandey says reinforcements have been sent to the village as intermittent exchanges of gunfire continued.
He says two soldiers have been wounded in the fighting.
No rebel groups fighting Indian rule issued a statements on the incident and it was not possible to independently verify the army account.
Since 1989, a violent separatist insurgency and the ensuing crackdown by Indian forces have killed an estimated 68,000 people in Kashmir. Although the armed rebellion is largely suppressed, public resentment against Indian rule runs deep.
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