Security forces in Indian Kashmir shot dead a senior leader of a Pakistan-based militant group late on Tuesday, dealing another blow to militants in the region, police said. This year nearly a dozen senior rebel members have been killed in gun battles in the troubled region, according to police. Police identified the dead militant as Sajad Afghani, a Pakistani national and “chief operations commander” of the Harkatul Mujahideen militant group. Afghani was killed in an abandoned hospital building in Sopore town, north of Srinagar, the state's summer capital, a day after the “financial chief” of Hizbul Mujahideen, the region's main militant group was shot dead. Officials say more than 43,000 people have been killed since a revolt against New Delhi's rule broke out in 1989. Violence has fallen significantly across Kashmir since India and Pakistan began peace talks in 2004.
