Top Kashmir Rebel Leaders Killed by Indian Forces

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An army spokesman said the operations commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen guerrilla group, Gazi Naseeb-u-Din, also known as Gulam Rasool Dar, was killed in a gunbattle on the outskirts of Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir.

The Hizbul Mujahideen, which is fighting for Muslim-majority Kashmir's merger with Muslim Pakistan, is one of the biggest guerrilla groups in the troubled region.

Naseeb-u-Din was the No. 2 in the group headed by Syed Salahuddin, who is based in Pakistani Kashmir. He led the Hizbul in failed peace talks with the government in July 2000.

Also killed in the shootout was Fayaz Ahmad Dar, or Abid, the group's chief financial and publicity official, said army spokesman Col. Dharam Adhikari.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20040116_212.html