Islamic rebel chief killed in Kashmiri gun battle

Indian troops have killed a leader of an Islamic guerrilla group suspected of involvement in the 1995 abduction of Western tourists and a hijacking in 1999.

Soldiers of the counter- insurgency Rashtriya Rifles raided a hide-out in Aharabal, a Kashmiri village50 miles south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state yesterday and killed Fayaz Ahmad Khan, the head of the local branch of the Harkat-ul-Mujahedin. In the pre-dawn gunbattle, Khan was trapped and killed after fighting back briefly with an assault rifle, an official said.

The outlawed Harkat, based in Pakistan, was involved in the 1995 abduction of six Western tourists from a popular trekking route in Kashmir's Pahalgam area. The Al-Faran group, which had claimed responsibility for the abductions, was a front for the Harkat, Indian security officials say.

The Harkat-ul-Mujahedinis also suspected of carrying out the 1999 Christmas Eve hijacking of an Indian Airlines jetliner from Nepal to Kandahar, Afghanistan. The passengers were exchanged for three top militants, who later surfaced in Pakistan.

Harkat is one of more than a dozen militant groups fighting since 1989 for Kashmir's independence from India or union with Pakistan. (AP)