Six dead, 19 injured in Kashmir gunbattle

A battle lasting over two days between Indian soldiers and two suspected rebels in Kashmir's main city ended last night with …

A battle lasting over two days between Indian soldiers and two suspected rebels in Kashmir's main city ended last night with the rebels, three soldiers and a civilian dead.

The last of the two rebels, who had wounded 19 soldiers in the gunbattle, was shot to death on Thursday evening, said an army spokesman.

The fighting began late Tuesday when the rebels attacked a paramilitary post outside Srinagar's military headquarters. The battle moved to a telephone exchange building that burned up in the firefight, and then to a nearby house.

A little-known guerrilla group called Al-Mansurian claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to the local Central News Service. The group has claimed responsibility for several past attacks. India says it is a front for the outlawed Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, based in Pakistan.

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Lashkar is the most feared among more than a dozen guerrilla groups that have been fighting since 1989 to wrest Muslim-majority Kashmir from predominantly Hindu India. More than 63,000 people have died in the conflict.