25 dead in Kashmir fighting: Indian army

Indian troops in revolt-hit Kashmir shot dead six Islamic militants on Tuesday, bringing the death toll on both sides from several days of forest gunbattles to 25, the army said.

Eight soldiers and 17 rebels have died in recent fighting in a district close to the Line of Control that divides the Indian and Pakistani-administered parts of the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, an army spokesman said.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is held in part by each country but claimed in full by both.

The gunfights were first reported on Saturday and followed a cross-border exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops that left one Indian soldier wounded.

India has in the past accused the Pakistani army of providing covering fire for rebels infiltrating into Indian Kashmir, where a deadly insurgency has raged since 1989.

The latest death toll was the highest in months in the troubled region and came at a time of heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours following last November's deadly Islamist militant attacks on Mumbai.

"The hand-to-hand gunfights have ended," said army spokesman J.S. Brar.

"The militants most likely consisted of an infiltrating column as well as the terrorists who had come to receive them," Brar said, adding the operation was based on "sound intelligence inputs."

Pakistan and India agreed to a ceasefire along the Line of Control in 2003 and have since held slow-moving peace negotiations.

But the peace process ground to a halt following the Mumbai attacks which killed 165 people and which India has blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The funeral of one of the Indian troops killed in the fighting was also held on Tuesday and drew a big turnout from Kashmiri residents, witnesses said.

Funerals for those fighting for India are generally ignored by Kashmiri residents.

The dead soldier, a Shiite Muslim from a village northeast of Srinagar, died on Monday during a heavy exchange of fire with rebels.

The insurgency against Indian rule has left more than 47,000 people dead, according to official figures.