Two Indian soldiers were killed in a firefight with militants trying to enter Indian-administered Kashmir Thursday as the region remained tense with a security clampdown to contain violent protests, dpa reported. Troops in the Machil sector, 135 kilometres north of Srinagar, spotted a group of militants near the Line of Control, which divides the disputed region into two halves administered by Pakistan and India. "The militants who were trying to sneak into our territory opened fire, and a gunbattle ensued in which two soldiers were killed," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel JS Brar said. It was not clear whether the militants suffered casualties,, but army sources said some rebels had managed get to the Indian side. Meanwhile, the security situation remained tense as authorities did not relax a curfew in violence-hit areas across the state. Towns in southern Kashmir have seen protests by stone-throwing mobs after the alleged killing of 10 civilians by paramilitary police in the past two weeks. Restrictions on movement were tightened in Srinagar, a capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, after a call by separatist leaders to hold a protest march. Additional police units were deployed and barricades erected to prevent the march, police said. The volatile state of the region has prompted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to review the security situation in the Muslim-majority region. Thousands of troops are based in Kashmir to fight a two-decade insurgency against Indian rule. Anti-India sentiments run deep and residents often clash with troops. -- SPA
