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Indian colonel shot dead in Kashmir

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SRINAGAR, Indian-administered Kashmir (CNN) -- A senior Indian army officer was killed on Saturday during a search for militants in a Kashmiri village, police told CNN.

The incident took place in Tilgam, which is 45 kilometers northwest of the capital Srinagar.

Two of the officer's guards were seriously wounded, police said. The incident comes a day after militants in Sopore ambushed an Indian army convoy and killed two people.

On Saturday, security forces received information about the presence of militants in a house in Tilgam.

Troops then moved in, cordoned off the village, and embarked on a search.

"As the troops led by their commandant tried to enter a house, the holed-up militants sprayed bullets at the raiding party," said Indian defense spokesman Col. Hemant Juneja.

"In the heavy firing exchanges the commandant, Col. G.S. Sarna was critically injured along with two of his body guards. The officer succumbed to his injuries in the hospital were he had been shifted for treatment," the spokesman told CNN.

More troops were deployed to the site, where a gunfight between security forces and militants ensued.

The dispute over Kashmir has spawned tensions between India and Pakistan -- South Asian neighbors and nuclear rivals.

Militants fighting for Kashmir's separation from India have been carrying out attacks against the Indian security forces in Kashmir.

So far more than 50,000 lives have been lost in the ongoing 17-year long violence in the territory.

A peace process between India and Pakistan has muted the hostility along their border when a bilateral cease-fire was announced in November 2003. But violence in the hinterland has persisted.

Obama hails passage of health care bill The Senate passed a $871 billion health care reform bill Thursday morning, handing President Obama a Christmas Eve victory on his top domestic priority.

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