Indian troops kill 5 Kashmir freedom fighters

Updated at: 1939 PST, Monday, October 27, 2008

SRINAGAR: Five suspected members of the Islamic militant Hizbul Mujahideen group were killed Monday by Indian Army soldiers in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, army sources said.

The soldiers launched a search operation in the Nawapitchi area of Kishtwar district, about 250 kilometres west of the state's winter capital, Jammu, after a tip-off, the sources said.

Five militants were killed in an exchange of fire, they added.

Army officials said the operation was important as militants were infiltrating the region from across the border with Pakistan, possibly with plans to disrupt elections in the state.

India's Election Commission has announced a seven-phase staggered election in Jammu and Kashmir from November 17 to December 24.

Meanwhile, there was an undeclared curfew in the summer capital, Srinagar, as security forces stopped people from moving on the streets and into shops and offices remained closed.

The move was aimed at preventing any incidents in view of a call by separatist groups to form a human chain in the Lal Chowk area in the centre of the city to protest recent actions by security forces against demonstrators, local administration officials said.

Protests against a land allotment to a Hindu temple earlier this year snowballed into agitation for greater autonomy and self-determination in the predominantly Muslim Kashmir valley region of Jammu and Kashmir.