Nineteen people including 11 soldiers have been killed in a clash between security forces and separatists in India's troubled Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence official said today.
A senior defence official told reporters 11 soldiers and eight Muslim separatist guerrillas were killed in the skirmish in Poonch district, 256 km (160 miles) north of Jammu, the state's winter capital.
Five other soldiers were also wounded in the incident.
A combing operation in the area is still going on. Those killed included two officers, an army major and a junior commissioned officer, the official said.
Separatist violence has escalated across the Himalayan region in recent weeks.
Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in the country's only Muslim majority state where authorities say more than 30,000 people have died in nearly 12 years of revolt.
India accuses Pakistan of stoking the revolt in Kashmir. Islamabad denies direct involvement and says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris struggling for self-determination.