Indian security forces shot dead 11 suspected Muslim militants in fighting over the weekend in the disputed Kashmir region, police said Sunday.

Five militants were killed in Poonch district, close to the de facto border between India and Pakistan, a police official said, while four others were killed in the southern district of Doda.

Thousands of troops were deployed in Indian Kashmir Thursday to prevent a protest rally called by separatist leaders against New Delhi`s rule in the Muslim-majority region.

`Heavy deployment has been made in Srinagar and other major towns of the valley to foil the separatist rally,` a police official told AFP.

Over a dozen people were hurt Sunday when Indian police fired teargas and used batons to disperse hundreds of Kashmiris protesting arrests of separatists, doctors said.

A senior separatist who participated in huge anti-India rallies in Kashmir has been charged under a tough law, sparking rioting by his supporters, police said Saturday.

Yasin Malik, 42, was arrested in the northern district of Sumbhal last month after he launched an anti-election campaign in the area.

Fifty people including police and demonstrators were hurt Friday when police fired bullets and teargas to break up hundreds of anti-India protesters in Kashmir, officials and doctors said.

The protesters, chanting `We want freedom` and `Allah is great,` poured into the streets of summer capital Srinagar after Friday prayers, police and witnesses said.

Some 15 people were hurt Friday when police fired bullets and teargas to break up hundreds of anti-India protesters in Kashmir.

The protesters, chanting `We want freedom` and `Allah is great,` poured into the streets of summer capital Srinagar after Friday prayers, police and witnesses said.

Indian troops on Wednesday shot dead a senior commander of the most powerful militant group fighting to join Kashmir with Pakistan, police said.

Abdul Rasheed was killed during a five-hour gun battle with soldiers and police in the southern district of Pulwama, a police statement said.

Indian troops were deployed in strike-hit Kashmir Monday to prevent Muslims from holding rallies to protest against the arrival of soldiers in the region 61 years ago, officials said.

SRINAGAR, India, Oct 24, 2008 (AFP) - Shops, schools and offices in the Kashmir valley closed Friday in line with a one-day strike called by separatist groups as a rebuke to the United Nations.

The strike, which coincided with UN Day, was 'to remind the United Nations of its commitments towards the resolution of the Kashmir dispute,' a statement by separatist groups said.

The troubled Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir will vote for a new state government in a seven-stage poll set to begin next month and conclude in late December, the Election Commission said Sunday.

`The commission is under a constitutional mandate to hold (a) general election to constitute the new legislative assembly in the state` by January 10, 2009, the body said in a statement.

Indian troops shot dead three suspected Islamic militants during a gunbattle along the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan, the army said Sunday.

The three were killed overnight during a `fierce encounter` in Rajouri district, about 430 kilometres (270 miles) south of Srinagar, an army statement said.

Two Indian soldiers and two Muslim militants were killed in separate attacks in revolt-hit Kashmir, police said Wednesday.

The soldiers died in two separate ambushes by militants in southern Poonch and northern Baramulla districts late Tuesday, a police statement said.

TOKYO, Oct 14, 2008 (AFP) - Indian conductor Zubin Mehta said Tuesday he hoped to lead a concert bringing together Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir as he received a top Japanese award.

Mehta, holding a joint news conference with other recipients of this year's Praemium Imperiale award, contrasted himself with the title character in Puccini's opera 'Tosca.'

SRINAGAR, India, Oct 11, 2008 (AFP) - Indian Kashmir's first train service hits the tracks Saturday -- the fruit of an eight-year project that had to overcome the twin challenges of tough terrain and separatist violence.

SRINAGAR, India, Oct 11, 2008 (AFP) - India's prime minister Saturday launched Kashmir's first train service, the fruit of an eight-year project that overcame tough terrain and rebel strife, on a visit overshadowed by violence.

SRINAGAR, India, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari's description of Islamic militants in Kashmir as 'terrorists' has been greeted with dismay and anger by separatist groups in the disputed region.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said in an interview that arch-enemy India had never been a threat to his country and that Islamic militant groups in Indian-controlled Kashmir were 'terrorists.'

ISLAMABAD, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said in an interview that arch-enemy India had never been a threat to his country and that Islamic militant groups in Indian-controlled Kashmir were 'terrorists.'

SRINAGAR, India, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands of Indian security forces implemented a strict curfew in Kashmir on Monday, preventing separatists from holding a pro-independence rally.

Organisers behind recent anti-India protests in Kashmir had urged the residents to rally during the day in Lal Chowk, or Red Square, in the heart of summer capital Srinagar.

SRINAGAR, India, Sept 16, 2008 (AFP) - Protests against India's rule in the spectacularly beautiful Kashmir valley have brought an abrupt halt to tourism, which had been showing signs of a hard-won recovery, officials say.

In the past few months, Kashmir has witnessed the biggest pro-independence demonstrations since the separatist insurgency erupted in 1989.

SRINAGAR, September 15, 2008 (AFP) - Four Indian security force personnel were killed in a gunbattle with heavily armed Islamic militants in revolt-hit Kashmir, an army spokesman said Monday.

He said the fighting broke out late Sunday when Indian soldiers, backed by counter-insurgency police, surrounded a forest where militants were present.

SRINAGAR, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Fresh separatist protests rocked revolt-hit Indian Kashmir on Friday, leaving two people dead and 80 others injured when police fired teargas and bullets, police said.

Thousands of police were deployed across parts of the Muslim-majority state to control crowds of demonstrators hurling stones and shouting, 'We want freedom' and 'Allah is great.'

SRINAGAR, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Fresh separatist protests rocked revolt-hit India Kashmir on Friday, leaving one protester dead and 30 others injured when police fired teargas and bullets, police said.

Thousands of police were deployed across parts of the Muslim-majority state to control crowds of demonstrators hurling stones and shouting, 'We want freedom' and 'Allah is great.'

SRINAGAR, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - A dozen people including a key separatist were injured Friday when police fired teargas to disperse thousands of Muslims protesting India's rule in Kashmir, police said.

Thousands of police were deployed across areas of the state to control the protests called by Muslim activists in the region.

SRINAGAR, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands of police deployed across areas of Indian Kashmir on Friday ahead of protests called by Muslim separatists in the region.

A separatist committee spearheading recent demonstrations has called on people in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley to take to the streets after midday prayers.

SRINAGAR, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - A one-day strike called by Muslim separatists to denounce planned elections closed shops, schools and businesses across Indian Kashmir on Monday and sparked fresh clashes that hurt 60 people.

SRINAGAR, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - A one-day strike called by Muslim separatists to denounce planned elections closed shops, schools and businesses across Indian Kashmir on Monday.

Government offices were also closed and public and private vehicles stayed off the road in the latest in a string of shutdowns and demonstrations called by separatists in the Muslim-majority state.

SRINAGAR, September 7, 2008 (AFP) - Indian police clashed with stone-throwing protesters in the Kashmiri summer capital on Sunday, a day after a demonstrator died in similar anti-India rallies.

Police fired teargas and used batons as scores of young Kashmiris, angry at the death of the Muslim man, threw rocks at riot police in Srinagar, police and witnesses said.

SRINAGAR, September 7, 2008 (AFP) - Kashmir's top separatist has warned India's heavy-handed crackdown on protests in the Muslim-majority region could trigger a renewed violent upsurge in the long-running separatist revolt.

SRINAGAR, September 6, 2008 (AFP) - A one-day strike called by Muslim separatists against New Delhi's rule brought Indian Kashmir to a standstill on Saturday, the latest protest to hit the region.

SRINAGAR, September 5, 2008 (AFP) - At least 10 people were killed and 13 others were missing after an overloaded mini-bus plunged into a fast-flowing river in Indian Kashmir, police said Friday.

SRINAGAR, September 5, 2008 (AFP) - The three top separatist leaders in Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir were put under house arrest Friday ahead of planned protests against Indian-rule during weekly prayers, police said.

SRINAGAR, September 2, 2008 (AFP) - Authorities in Indian Kashmir on Tuesday lifted a nine-day-old curfew imposed after a dispute triggered mass protests against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region.

The lifting of the daytime lock-down coincided with the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and followed the release Monday of three senior Kashmiri separatist leaders.

SRINAGAR, September 1, 2008 (AFP) - Three politicians who participated in huge anti-India rallies in Kashmir have been charged under a tough law as police maintained a curfew for the ninth straight day Monday, police said.

The three -- Shabir Shah, Aasiya Andrabi and Ashraf Sehrai -- were arrested last week in the summer capital Srinagar.

SRINAGAR, August 31, 2008 (AFP) - Hindus in Indian Kashmir on Sunday suspended two-month protests after the government agreed to temporarily provide land to a Hindu trust managing a key pilgrimage in the Muslim-majority region.

SRINAGAR, August 31, 2008 (AFP) - Hindus in Indian Kashmir on Sunday suspended protests after the government agreed to temporarily provide land to a Hindu trust managing a key pilgrimage in the Muslim-majority region.

SRINAGAR, August 31, 2008 (AFP) - Hindus in Indian Kashmir Sunday suspended protests after the government agreed to provide land to a Hindu trust managing a key pilgrimage in the Muslim-majority region.

SRINAGAR, August 30, 2008 (AFP) - A seven-day-old curfew was briefly lifted in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Saturday, prompting panic buying by residents to stock up on food supplies.

Stores reported they were running out of supplies in the city of one million, summer capital of Indian Kashmir where an armed revolt against New Delhi's rule has raged since 1989.

SRINAGAR, August 29, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands of Indian police and paramilitaries were Friday enforcing a strict curfew in Kashmir and intensifying a crackdown against Muslim separatists, officials said.