Hurriyat strike paralyses Kashmir

The strike call given by the All Party Hurriyat Conference brought life to a grinding halt in Kashmir on Monday, a day after seven militants -- three of them foreign nationals -- were killed and a security personnel injured in three different encounters in the valley.

Official sources said militants fired upon a security force search party at Bahak forest in Kupwara, a frontier district. The security forces returned the fire and, in the subsequent fierce six-hour encounter, three foreign militants were killed and one security personnel injured.

On an intelligence tip-off, security forces had cordoned off Palapora and adjoining areas to nab militants and their sympathisers. The militants had opened fire while the forces were conducting house-to-house searches.

Locals alleged that the forces set some houses on fire and killed a truck driver during the operation. However, an official spokesman said the driver was killed in the encounter.

Sources said the security forces shot dead a militant in another village in the same district on Sunday. In Gandoh village the same evening, security forces killed two more militants, including the self-styled district commander of Harkat-ul-Ansar.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yaseen Malik began an indefinite hunger strike at the Jantar-Mantar in New Delhi, demanding human rights organisations visit Kashmir to investigate the violations committed by security forces.

Malik was joined by four other Hurriyat leaders -- Ghulam Nabi Sumji and G M Hubi from Kashmir, and Karan Singh and Pulwinder Singh from Jammu -- for the first 24 hours.

Commenting on state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah's offer for talks, Bhat said no details of the discussion have been spelt out. "What is he going to discuss with us?" he asked. "He does not have any legal standing or people's approval to talk to Hurriyat leaders."

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JKLF chief to fast unto death from Monday

UNI