8 die as Indian soldiers, Kashmir separatists clash

SRINIGAR, Kashmir (CNN) -- A senior Indian Army officer, two Indian Army soldiers and five separatist militants were killed in the Machil sector of the Line of Control in Indian-administered Kashmir Friday, the Indian Defense Ministry said.

A ministry spokesman said the army intercepted a group of infiltrators near the Line of Control between Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir early Friday and challenged them.

"The group of militants opened fire at the surrounding troops, resulting in an on-the-spot death of an Army colonel and two soldiers," Lt. Col. A.K. Mathar said in Srinigar. "In the subsequent gunbattle, five militants were killed. A search operation is now on in the Machil area of the North Kashmir Kupwara district," he said.

India has often accused neighboring Pakistan of aiding and abetting militants in Kashmir, a charge denied by Pakistani officials. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since 1948. The insurgents want to see India's part of the region merged with Pakistan or given independence.

The gunfight came on a day when hundreds of thousands converged on Srinigar, the capital, shouting anti-Indian slogans and demanding freedom from Indian control. The protesters, from throughout Kashmir, converged on the historic grounds of Eidgah -- an open air mosque for Eid or other large prayer gathers -- in the heart of the city from Friday morning.

When the public address system failed and senior Kashmiri separatist leaders couldn't address the mammoth gathering, the separatist leaders were carried through the crowd shouting pro-Islamic slogans. In his brief address, senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq announced that an even larger rally and sit-in would take place on Monday in the Lal Chowk area of Srinigar.

"The only demand we make is of freedom. India must grant it to us," said Abdul Rahim, a schoolteacher who participated in the rally.

The state authorities allowed Friday's march, which was the fourth called by separatists in the past 12 days. The authorities had ordered the Indian security forces to exercise maximum restraint.

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