17 in Kashmir Reported Slain After Ambush
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HANDWARA, India — Paramilitary troops shot and killed 17 civilians and set 400 houses on fire in the troubled Kashmir Valley after an ambush attempt by Muslim separatists, witnesses and a local official said Tuesday.
United News of India said 20 people died.
The government said 11 civilians, one policeman, one soldier and two rebels died in a gun battle between the troops and the militants. It said a court of inquiry has been ordered.
The shootings broke out about noon Monday in Handwara, an apple trading town about 46 miles from Srinagar, capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The government said Muslim militants hurled a grenade at Border Security Force troops patrolling the town market. The grenade missed the troops but ignited a fire in a shop that killed four people, it said.
A full-scale battle between the troops and about 50 militants ensued, in which many civilians got caught in cross-fire, state police chief Jyotindra Nath Saxena told reporters in Srinagar.
Phansung, a Handwara town official who uses one name, and other residents said troops set fire to about 400 houses after the grenade was thrown and raked the town with rifle fire.
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