Three suspected militants blew themselves up as police gave chase Saturday in the Pakistani part of disputed Kashmir, authorities said, according to AP. No other casualties were reported, but the incident underscored fears that militants are preparing attacks in other areas as retaliation for an army offensive under way in the Afghan border region of South Waziristan. The Pakistani military said Saturday that 14 militants and six soldiers were killed over the last 24 hours as part of that operation. The three men in Kashmir fled after police acting on a tip raided their hide-out in the Thori area of regional capital Muzaffarabad, according to senior police officer Sardar Ilyas. Police pursued them and the men detonated explosives on their bodies after being trapped on a mountain, Ilyas said, adding 18 hand grenades, three assault rifles and a pistol had been seized from the hide-out.
