2 soldiers, 1 rebel killed in ambush in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Two paramilitary soldiers and one suspected rebel were killed in Kashmir Wednesday after a convoy of paramilitary troops was ambushed in the troubled region, police said.

Police Director-General K. Rajendra said at least eight soldiers were also wounded in the attack.

Another senior police officer Danish Rana said militants hid in maize fields and sprayed bullets at a Border Security Force convoy near Udhampur, a garrison town on the main highway connecting the disputed territory with the rest of India.

Police said the gunbattle was ongoing and that no other details were immediately available.

Violence in the region has escalated in recent weeks, with regular skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops stationed along the heavily militarized frontier.

At least three civilians were killed on Tuesday as the government forces on the two sides traded gunfire and mortar shells.

The two South Asian nuclear-armed rivals have fought two wars over their competing claims to Kashmir and each administers a part of it.

A 2003 cease-fire largely has held despite small, but regular, skirmishes.

Rebel groups have been fighting in Kashmir since 1989. More than 68,000 people have been killed in the fighting and in a subsequent Indian military crackdown.