Kashmir

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday that Pakistan is willing to give up its claim to Kashmir if India reciprocates and agrees to self-governance in the disputed Himalayan region that they have fought over for decades. The comments, in an interview aired by India's NDTV network, were among Musharraf's strongest yet since the South Asian rivals began peace talks nearly three years ago in a bid to settle the bitter, 58-year dispute. There was no immediate reaction from India's government, and Musharraf's spokesman accused NDTV of "twisting" the president's comments...

An annual strike called by separatists in Indian-controlled Kashmir shuttered shops and businesses Monday to mark a top Muslim cleric's assassination 22 years ago, but police blocked a planned protest rally in the disputed region. The cleric, Mirwaiz Mohammed Farooq, had argued for Kashmir's right to vote on whether it should be independent or governed either by India or Pakistan, nuclear-armed nations that have fought two wars since 1947 over rival claims to the Himalayan territory now split between them by a militarized line of control.

NEW DELHI -- One day after Pakistan's president proposed a demilitarization of the violence-racked Himalayan region of Kashmir, India's response was notably lukewarm, with an official making clear the proposal should not have been made first to reporters. Refusing to comment on the substance of the proposals, presented to journalists Monday by President General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna of India said they should have been raised through diplomatic channels.

Police say suspected rebels have exploded grenades at two police stations in Indian-administered Kashmir, injuring at least 14 people. Officer Imtiyaz Hussain says a militant set off a grenade outside a police patrol post in Sopore town, northeast of Srinagar, the region's largest city, wounding four officers and at least 10 civilians. Police say no one was injured by a second grenade that exploded at a police station in Srinagar. Indian forces have largely suppressed an insurgency that erupted in 1989.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack yesterday on security forces in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, calling it a sign that recent military strikes targeting the group’s top leader have not hampered his ability to hit back. It was the first time the intensifying conflict between Pakistani forces and the Taliban has reached Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan enclave that has long been a flashpoint for violence between Pakistan and archrival India.

SRINAGAR, India — India sent army troops into the streets of Kashmir yesterday as it intensified a crackdown on increasingly angry separatist protests in the region, where three more Muslim demonstrators were killed in clashes, police said. Paramilitary forces and police have taken the lead in confronting protesters since widespread rallies began in June, but with violence escalating over the past week, the government has searched for a new strategy, settling on bringing the military in. While some Indian officials have called for easing harsh security laws as a...

Indian authorities plan to partially revoke a controversial law that shields government forces from prosecution in its portion of Kashmir. Indian Kashmir's top elected official Omar Abdullah told police officers Friday that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act will be withdrawn in the next few days from areas where militancy has ebbed in recent years. At present, army and paramilitary officers can search homes and make arrests without warrants, shoot at anyone suspected of being a separatist and blow up any building or home.

The Indian army says seven soldiers are missing after being hit by an avalanche in the Himalayan heights of disputed territory of Kashmir. Army spokesman Lt. Col. J.S. Brar says five army and two paramilitary soldiers were clearing a road near the de-facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan when a mass of snow and ice tumbled from above early Tuesday. He says rescuers from Indian army's High Altitude Warfare School and local border guards are searching for the soldiers.

Police say troops in Indian-controlled Kashmir have opened fire on hundreds of villagers who were protesting against frequent power cuts, killing one person and injuring two others. Police say the paramilitary troops began shooting Monday as the protesters shouted slogans outside the main gate of a power plant near Baramulla town. They say one protester died on the spot and two others were hospitalized. The Himalayan region faces power cuts of up to 16 hours a day despite bitterly cold winter temperatures as low as 3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 16 Celsius)

Officials say food and fuel supplies to the Kashmir valley have stopped after heavy snowfall blocked the only road into India's portion of the disputed Himalayan region. Traffic officer Hemant Kumar Lohia says nearly 2,000 vehicles carrying gasoline, kerosene and food supplies are halted along the 185-mile (300-kilometer) road. Authorities are rationing cooking gas to help deal with the shortage. The avalanche-prone highway has been shut for days, but opened briefly during improved weather Wednesday to allow about 300 trucks through to Srinagar, the main city in...

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in India's capital on Thursday to meet with government officials and business leaders. Ban was scheduled to meet with Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad later Thursday. On Friday, he is to hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna and others. On Saturday, the U.N. chief is to fly to Mumbai, India's financial capital. No details of Ban's agenda were immediately available. News reports said he would discuss regional and global issues.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani soldiers dug into a massive avalanche in a mountain battleground close to the Indian border on Saturday, searching for at least 135 people buried when the wall of snow engulfed a military complex. More than 12 hours after the disaster at the entrance to the Siachen Glacier, no survivors had been found. "We are waiting for news and keeping our fingers crossed," said army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. Hundreds of troops, search dogs, and mechanical equipment were at the scene but were struggling to make much headway into the avalanche, which...

Shops and businesses have been shut in Indian Kashmir during a strike to protest the U.S. prison sentence given to a Kashmir-born man accused of working for Pakistan's spy agency to influence Washington policymakers. A court in the state of Virginia sentenced Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai of the Kashmiri American Council to two years in prison on March 30. He admitted he concealed financial links to Pakistan's spy agency while he presented himself as an independent voice on Kashmir's behalf.

Officials say an avalanche triggered by recent rains killed at least one man in the Himalayan territory of Kashmir, while strong winds damaged hundreds of homes. State disaster management official Amir Ali says rescuers are searching for two other men missing since the avalanche struck Monday night near the militarized cease-fire line that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Avalanches and landslides are common in Kashmir thanks to heavy snowfall and frequent rain.

The Indian army says seven soldiers are missing after being hit by an avalanche in the Himalayan heights of disputed territory of Kashmir. Army spokesman Lt. Col. J.S. Brar says five army and two paramilitary soldiers were clearing a road near the de-facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan when a mass of snow and ice tumbled from above early Tuesday. He says rescuers from Indian army's High Altitude Warfare School and local border guards are searching for the soldiers.

Officials say food and fuel supplies to the Kashmir valley have stopped after heavy snowfall blocked the only road into India's portion of the disputed Himalayan region. Traffic officer Hemant Kumar Lohia says nearly 2,000 vehicles carrying gasoline, kerosene and food supplies are halted along the 185-mile (300-kilometer) road. Authorities are rationing cooking gas to help deal with the shortage. The avalanche-prone highway has been shut for days, but opened briefly during improved weather Wednesday to allow about 300 trucks through to Srinagar, the main city in...

SRINAGAR, India — Hundreds of anti-India protesters clashed with police and paramilitary soldiers yesterday despite a rigid curfew being reimposed in most of Kashmir after weeks of unrest that has killed 15 people. People were not allowed to attend prayers at Srinagar’s main Jamia mosque for a third successive Friday, but authorities did not stop residents from attending prayers at smaller local mosques in the city. People who attended mosques joined anti-India protests afterward.

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan — A van carrying at least 30 schoolchildren plunged into a river in Pakistan-held Kashmir yesterday, and most of the passengers were confirmed or feared dead. The driver lost control of the vehicle and it plunged 50 feet into the Jhelum River from an elevated road in the regional capital Muzaffarabad, said local police chief Ghulam Akber. Authorities managed to save the driver and four children, he said. But school teacher Bashir Mughal said rescue workers took more than an hour to arrive and it was local villagers who plucked the four...

Thousands of shopkeepers in the Indian portion of Kashmir have gone on a daylong general strike to protest the killing of a student and frequent power cuts. Police and security forces took positions to prevent any street protests after Friday afternoon prayers in Srinagar, the region's main city, and other towns in the Kashmir valley. On Monday, a student was killed when government forces fired on villagers who were protesting outside a power plant near Baramulla town against frequent power cuts in the region.

Police say troops in Indian-controlled Kashmir have opened fire on hundreds of villagers who were protesting against frequent power cuts, killing one person and injuring two others. Police say the paramilitary troops began shooting Monday as the protesters shouted slogans outside the main gate of a power plant near Baramulla town. They say one protester died on the spot and two others were hospitalized. The Himalayan region faces power cuts of up to 16 hours a day despite bitterly cold winter temperatures as low as 3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 16 Celsius)