Kashmir rebels vow to continue attacks

Despite continued violence, villagers who fled their homes along the Line of Control have begun to return

NEW DELHI, India -- Kashmir's frontline Islamic militant group says it will continue with violent attacks against Indian security forces.

The pledge from the Hezbul Mujahedeen comes as India confirms its troops will remain mobilized on the borders with Pakistan for at least the next four months.

In fresh outbreaks of violence in Indian-ruled Kashmir Thursday, one of which Hezbul Mujahedeen has claimed responsibility for, 19 people died and 26 were wounded.

Three soldiers were killed when an army vehicle ran over a landmine near Pahalgam, 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Kashmir's capital, Srinigar.

"We will continue to strike against so-called security forces and disrupt the sleep of the Indian security forces and their local henchmen in the state," a spokesman for Hezbul Mujahedeen, claiming responsibility for the attack, told Reuters.

In a separate incident, three soldiers were killed when suspected guerrillas attacked their vehicles some 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Srinigar.

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Meanwhile, a crowded marketplace in Anantang, 55 kilometers (35 miles) south of Srinigar was torn apart when suspected rebels threw a grenade which injured 22, Reuters reports.

India plans to maintain its military presence, with around a million troops massed along the shared borders, until crucial elections set to be held in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir by October 14, India's defense minister George Fernandes told reporters Thursday.

"We cannot withdraw forces until elections in Jammu and Kashmir are over and after that it depends on the situation," Fernandes said. "We have security forces along the borders and they will remain there until October."

The elections in Jammu and Kashmir -- India's only Muslim majority state -- are viewed by New Delhi as vital in ending the dispute over the territory where a 12-year separatist revolt has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

New Delhi blames militant attacks in India, which controls 45 per cent of Kashmir, on Kashmiri separatist groups it says operate from Pakistani-controlled territory with backing from Islamabad.

Pakistan has rejected the charges, saying it only gives moral support to groups fighting what it calls a "liberation struggle" for the Kashmiri people.