Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=07/16/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=INDIA/KASHMIR (L-O)

NUMBER=2-278282

BYLINE=ANJANA PASRICHA

DATELINE=NEW DELHI

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: In Indian Kashmir, at least five soldiers have been killed and more than a dozen others injured in heavy clashes between Muslim militants and Indian soldiers. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi that a sharp escalation in violence in Kashmir in recent days has taken a toll of at least 70-lives.

TEXT: Indian authorities say Muslim militants attacked two army camps in the northern Kashmir district of Kupwara, triggering heavy fighting. The hardline Lakshar-e-Taiba militant group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Officials said the attacks were apparently carried out in retaliation for the deaths of more than 20-militants in a gun-battle with the army Sunday in the southern Poonch district.

The attacks on the army installations were the latest reports of escalating violence in the insurgency-torn region.

Officials say Indian security forces also have killed several militants during clashes in at least three areas around the Kashmiri capital Srinagar. Officials also blamed Muslim guerrillas for overnight bomb blasts that damaged several border fence pillars along the Indo-Pakistani border.

During the weekend, Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged small-arms fire across the Kashmir border for the first time in six-months.

Muslim militants had vowed to step up attacks in Kashmir to coincide with the summit meeting between the Indian and Pakistani leaders. But there has been a surge in violence in Kashmir since May when India called off a six-month unilateral ceasefire with Muslim guerrillas.

Despite the growing violence, the Indian Express newspaper has reported that India has pulled 20-thousand troops from Kashmir. A Defense Ministry spokesman has neither confirmed nor denied the report, saying troop movements are secret.

India has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops in Kashmir where Muslim guerrillas have been fighting for independence from Hindu-dominated India since 1989. The insurgency has claimed more than 60-thousand lives. (SIGNED)

NEB/AP/RAE