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Militants gun down six policemen in Kashmir |
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April 17, 2000
JAMMU, APR 16 (AP) - Armed separatists on a mountain peak shot dead six policemen preparing to raid a village in Jammu-Kashmir, officials said Sunday.
The militants ambushed the policemen on Saturday night in Lassana, a village in Poonch district, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the state's summer capital, Jammu.
The rebels saw the policemen climbing the mountain and opened fire on them, killing four of them on the spot. Two other policemen died in the hospital.
The incident occurred two days after an encounter in the same area left two army soldiers dead. Police, army and paramilitary troops have been fighting the guerrillas since 1989 in almost daily gun battles, which has left more than 25,000 people dead so far.
Army soldiers immediately cordoned off the area and searched for the guerrillas, who want Kashmir to break away from India.
The identity of the guerrilla group was not immediately known. A dozen rebel groups have been fighting for independence of Kashmir, the Muslim-majority province of the state. Some groups want Kashmir to join neighboring Pakistan, an Islamic nation.
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