Twenty-eight killed in Kashmir as EU team visits

September 27, 2000
Web posted at: 6:22 AM HKT (2222 GMT)

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) -- Twenty-eight people, including five Indian security men and 19 guerrillas, were killed in gun battles in Kashmir as a European Union team met separatists and officials, authorities said Tuesday.

The deaths since Monday evening marked an escalation in violence in the Himalayan region, where more than 30,000 people have died in violence linked to a separatist rebellion since 1990.

The Jammu and Kashmir government said in a statement it passed to a visiting four-member European Union study team a "longing for return of peace" among the people of the mountainous region.

The EU team, which included the ambassadors of France, Belgium and Sweden, met separatists and government officials.

"The governor apprised them of the changing situation and said that the people of Kashmir are fed up with militant violence and longing for return of peace," the statement said.

Separatist violence in the Muslim-majority Himalayan state has increased since the Hizbul guerrilla group called off a brief cease-fire last month after India resisted its efforts to involve Pakistan in peace talks.

India says Pakistan must stop what it calls cross-border terrorism in the region to resume talks.

Islamabad denies charges that it arms separatists in the region, but acknowledges political support for guerrilla groups, some of whose leaders operate from Pakistan.

Officials say 1,947 people including 296 Indian security force personnel and 1,062 militants have been killed in separatist violence in the region since January.

India controls 45 percent of Kashmir. Pakistan rules over a third of Kashmir and China the rest.

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