Kashmir violence kills 30

SRINAGAR, Kashmir -- At least 30 people, including eight civilians, were killed and several were injured by cross-border shootings on Saturday in India's restive Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, sources tell CNN.

In one of the worst of the incidents, guerrillas blew up a police jeep killing four officers when the vehicle detonated a land mine.

The largest of the guerrilla groups in Kashmir said it carried out the jeep attack at Kathua. A spokesman for the Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility in a phone call to the Associated Press.

Fighting has flared in the mountainous region since U.S.-led forces began hostilities against Muslim militants in Afghanistan this month.

More than 150 people have died, mostly Muslim rebels accused by New Delhi of having bases across the border in Pakistan.

The attack came as most schools, offices and shops in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir, closed to protest the presence of Indian troops in the Himalayan state.

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The All Party Hurriyat Conference, a coalition of Kashmiri separatist parties, called the strike.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister George Fernandes said India had plans to combat rebels more effectively, but gave no details.

"The only way to deal with militants is to get rid of them. We are working on a strategy that will enable us to be far more effective," he told the new Star News television channel, quoted by Reuters.

"The aim is to clear the area of any kind of terrorist activity."

Reuters reported that among the latest reported casualties were six civilians killed by militants who forced their way into their homes in Doda district late on Friday.

In a village 15 km west of Srinagar, Kashmir's main city, three militants holed up in a mosque fought a gunbattle with security forces.

It was unclear whether militants in the mosque had been killed.

Police also told Reuters that four Hizbul Mujahideen guerriaguerillasilled in a clash with security forces and three civilians were injured during the exchange of fire in Rajouri district.

A dozen militant groups are fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. The authorities say more than 30,000 people have died in nearly 11 years of rebellion. Separatists put the toll nearer 80,000.

Last week Fernandes dismissed as "rubbish" charges by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that New Delhi was threatening to attack across the disputed border of Kashmir.

"India has never ever in its history gone to war or initiated a war," Defense Minister George Fernandes said in a CNN interview.

"So for the Pakistan president to say that India is planning to wage war against Pakistan is rubbish."

Musharraf had warned India against aggressive action in Kashmir, vowing to teach its neighbour a lesson if it attacks the Pakistani portion of the Himalayan province that both nations claim.