(12 Aug 1998) Hindi/English/Nat
Heavy fighting between Indian soldiers and militant fighters in Kashmir has left 14 dead in the border region of Kupwara.
Indian army officials say the militants shot dead include mostly foreign mercenaries.
Meanwhile, continuing cross-border fire between India and Pakistan continues to destroy the lives and homes of many Kashmiris in the region.
A fierce exchange of gunfire between the Indian army and militant activists early on Monday has completely wiped out a band of militants, according to an Indian army official.
The official says that eight of the militants killed were foreign mercenaries, including six Afghanis, one Pakistani and one Iranian.
SOUNDBITE ( English):
"We have eliminated the entire group. There were 14 to 15 militants in this group and I am pretty confident that all of them have been eliminated."
SUPER CAPTION: V.G. Patankar, Commanding officer, Indian Army
A large number of arms and some ammunition belonging to the militant fighters has now been seized.
The past few weeks have probably been some of the most violent in Kashmir 's troubled recent history.
Heavy, intense firing from across the Pakistani border has worsened the situation, forcing many to flee their destroyed homes.
More than 100 civilians are reported to have lost their lives in the cross-fire and nearly 150 houses have been destroyed in the villages bordering the disputed frontier.
SOUNDBITE (Hindi):
"Those who died in the shelling include two of my nephews, my sister-in-law and my mother, four casualties at one time, within a minute they were gone. And two other children are lying injured."
SUPER CAPTION: Javed Ahmed Khan
Scores of people lie injured in the hospitals.
However, the Pakistani Foreign Minister - Sartaj Aziz - said on Wednesday that Pakistan is not the only one to blame for the attacks.
Aziz accuses India of not making the dispute over Kashmir a top priority and therefore prolonging the instability in the region.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"If the Indian side wants to use the discussion of other issues to delegate Kashmir and put it into the cold freezer, then of course the other discussions, the other issues will not move forward, but if they start simultaneously and if there is some movement on all of them then of course we can all move forward because I think our Prime Minister has said repeatedly, look the world is moving on, no country can survive alone."
SUPER CAPTION: Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Minister of Pakistan
Aziz says that if India and Pakistan are at odds politically, then the two countries will suffer economically.
Meanwhile in Srinagar, demonstrators from a pro-independence group- the "People's League" - took to the streets on Monday demanding an immediate intervention by the U-N to resolve the Kashmir standoff.
The protestors marched towards the U-N observatory office in the Kashmiri capital.
Many demonstrators were later arrested by the police.
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