India, Feb 19 (AP/UNB) — Tensions escalated after a suicide attack in disputed Kashmir, with nine people killed Monday in a gunbattle that broke out as Indian soldiers searched for militants.

Government forces surrounded a village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there, security officials said. As troops began conducting searches, they came under heavy gunfire, leading to a clash that killed four soldiers, three suspected militants, a police official and a civilian.

Three army officers, a senior police officer and three other soldiers were wounded in the operation, which follows the suicide attack last Thursday on a paramilitary convoy that killed at least 40 soldiers, the worst attack against Indian government forces in Kashmir's history.

India blamed the attack on Pakistan and promised a "jaw-breaking response." Pakistan has warned India against linking it to the attack without an investigation, saying that it was part of New Delhi's "known rhetoric and tactics" to divert global attention from human rights violations in Kashmir.

India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the Muslim-majority region in its entirety.

The attack has led to a spike in communal tensions in Hindu-majority India.

Videos of anti-Kashmiri protests have gone viral on social media, including some in which Kashmiri students were beaten by mobs of Hindu nationalist groups and warned to leave colleges and universities.

On the outskirts of the northern city of Ambala, about 300 Kashmiri students were forced to leave their rented accommodations by local Hindu residents, at least three students reached by phone told The Associated Press.

One of the students who asked to be identified by only his middle name, Ahmed, due to fear of reprisals from his university, said he and his fellow students felt unsafe despite police security.

The Kashmiri students blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist ruling party for stoking anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmiri sentiment in India ahead of a general election due this year.

In another northern city, Dehradun, at least 20 Kashmiri students were forced to lock themselves in their hostel rooms for safety until police arrived, The Times of India newspaper reported. Police in Dehradun said the students were safe but refused to comment further.

Vijay Kumar, a top government adviser, said they received several complaints from students and businesspeople, and authorities were "doing everything possible for the security" of Kashmiris. He said authorities have spoken with officials in various cities and also set up help centers for Kashmiris living outside the state.

Reports of harassment elsewhere in India have triggered public anger in Kashmir, where authorities have suspended internet service on mobile phones and slowed other internet sources to try to stop the spread of videos or the organization of protests.

The Indian chapter of Amnesty International urged India's federal and state governments to "ensure that ordinary Kashmiri women and men do not face targeted attacks, harassment and arbitrary arrests"  following Thursday's suicide bombing.

"We are at a dangerous moment, and authorities must do everything they can to uphold the rule of law," said Aakar Patel, head of Amnesty International India. "Ordinary Kashmiris across India who are only seeking to improve their lives should not be singled out for violence simply because of where they come from."

The statement said many students are reported to have fled their universities in fear. "Two colleges in Dehradun and one in Moradabad have stated that they will not admit new Kashmiri students," it said.

Monday's fighting in Kashmir triggered anti-India protests and clashes, with local residents, mainly youths, trying to march to the site of the gunbattle in solidarity with the rebels. Government forces fired tear gas at the stone-throwing protesters. No one was immediately reported injured in the clashes.

Residents said troops destroyed five civilian houses with explosives and gasoline during the fighting. Police said they recovered the bodies of the dead militants from the debris. A civilian was also killed in the crossfire, police said.

The dead soldiers included an Indian army major. Police said two militants were killed in the initial fighting, which resumed after a lull of about four hours, leading to the killing of a third militant and injuries to several soldiers and a police officer.

Rebels have been fighting Indian control in Kashmir since 1989 and the uprising and ensuing crackdown have killed about 70,000 people.

Most Kashmiris support the rebels' demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.

Srinagar, Feb 18 (AP/UNB) — Tensions escalated in the aftermath of a suicide attack in disputed Kashmir, with seven people killed Monday in a gunbattle that broke out as Indian soldiers scoured the area for militants.

Government forces surrounded a village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there, security officials said. As troops began conducting searches, they came under heavy gunfire, leading to a clash that killed four soldiers, two suspected militants and a civilian.

A senior police officer, an army officer and three other soldiers were wounded in the operation, which follows a Feb. 14 suicide attack on a paramilitary convoy that killed at least 40 soldiers, the worst attack against Indian government forces in Kashmir's history.

India blamed the attack on Pakistan and promised a "jaw-breaking response." Pakistan has warned India against linking it to the attack without an investigation, saying that it was part of New Delhi's "known rhetoric and tactics" to divert global attention from human rights violations in Kashmir.

India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the Muslim-majority region in its entirety.

The attack has led to a spike in communal tensions in Hindu-majority India.

Videos of anti-Kashmiri protests have gone viral on social media, including some in which Kashmiri students were beaten by mobs of Hindu nationalist groups and warned to leave colleges and universities.

On the outskirts of the northern city of Ambala, about 300 Kashmiri students were forced to leave their rented accommodations by local Hindu residents, at least three students reached by phone told The Associated Press.

One of the students who asked to be identified by only his middle name, Ahmed, due to fear of reprisals from his university, said he and his fellow students felt unsafe despite police security.

The Kashmiri students blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist ruling party for stoking anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmiri sentiment in India ahead of a general election due this year.

In another northern city, Dehradun, at least 20 Kashmiri students were forced to lock themselves in their hostel rooms for safety until police arrived, The Times of India newspaper reported. Police in Dehradun said the students were safe but refused to comment further.

Vijay Kumar, a top government adviser, said they received several complaints from students and businesspeople, and authorities were "doing everything possible for the security" of Kashmiris. He said authorities have spoken with local officials in various cities and also set up help centers for Kashmiris living outside the state.

Reports of harassment elsewhere in India have triggered public anger in Kashmir, where authorities have suspended internet service on mobile phones and also reduced the speed of other internet sources in a bid to stop the spread of videos or the organization of protests.

The Indian chapter of the human rights group Amnesty International urged India's federal and state governments to "ensure that ordinary Kashmiri women and men do not face targeted attacks, harassment and arbitrary arrests"  following Thursday's suicide bombing.

"We are at a dangerous moment, and authorities must do everything they can to uphold the rule of law," said Aakar Patel, head of Amnesty International India. "Ordinary Kashmiris across India who are only seeking to improve their lives should not be singled out for violence simply because of where they come from."

The statement said many students are reported to have fled their universities in fear. "Two colleges in Dehradun and one in Moradabad have stated that they will not admit new Kashmiri students," it said.

Monday's fighting in Kashmir triggered anti-India protests and clashes, with local residents, mainly youths, trying to march to the site of the gunbattle in solidarity with the rebels. Government forces fired tear gas at the stone-throwing protesters. No one was immediately reported injured in the clashes.

Residents said troops destroyed a civilian house with explosives during the fighting. Police said they recovered the bodies of two militants from the debris. A civilian was also killed in the crossfire, police said.

The dead soldiers included an Indian army major. The wounded soldier was reported to be in critical condition.

Rebels have been fighting Indian control in Kashmir since 1989 and the uprising and ensuing crackdown have killed about 70,000 people.

Most Kashmiris support the rebels' demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.

India, Feb 18 (AP/UNB) — Four Indian soldiers, two suspected militants and a civilian were killed in a gunbattle in disputed Kashmir on Monday, officials said, further escalating tensions in the restive region.

Another soldier was wounded in the gunbattle, which came after a local Kashmiri militant rammed an explosive-laden van into a paramilitary bus on Thursday, killing at least 40 soldiers in the worst attack against Indian government forces in Kashmir's history.

The fighting erupted early Monday after government forces surrounded a village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there, security officials said. As troops began conducting searches they came under heavy gunfire, leading to fatalities, police said.

Local residents said troops destroyed one civilian house by explosives during the fighting. Police said they recovered the bodies of two militants from the debris. A civilian was also killed in the crossfire, police said.

The dead soldiers included an Indian army major. The wounded soldier was reported to be in critical condition.

The fighting triggered anti-India protests and clashes in the village, with local residents, mainly youths, trying to march to the site of the gunbattle in solidarity with the rebels. Government forces fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters. No one was immediately reported injured in the clashes.

In recent years, mainly young Kashmiris have displayed solidarity with the rebels and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during India's counterinsurgency operations despite repeated warnings from the Indian authorities.

Tensions have escalated in the region since Thursday's attack, which India blamed on Pakistan, promising a "jaw breaking response." Pakistan warned India not to link it to the attack without an investigation, saying that it was part of New Delhi's "known rhetoric and tactics" to divert global attention from human rights violations in Kashmir.

Archrivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the region in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989. Most Kashmiris support the rebels' demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.

The anti-India unrest grew especially after a popular rebel leader was killed in 2016. The Indian government responded with stepped-up anti-rebel operations, leading to more protests.

About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian crackdown since 1989.

Baghouz, Feb 17 (AP/UNB) — The sound of mortar shelling and fighter jets whizzing by filled the air.

At the base in this small village, fighters from the U.S.- backed Syrian Democratic Forces coordinate with their comrades about two kilometers (1.2 miles) away who are closing in on Islamic State militants hiding in their last toehold on the border between Syria and Iraq.

Despite the projectiles being fired, the mood among the fighters at this base is easygoing. The Kurdish-led force, with help from the U.S.-led coalition, has all but defeated the most ferocious extremist group to terrorize the region in years.

"The situation is great. It can't be better," said one commander at the front line into his walkie-talkie.

Clashes continue inside the village of Baghouz, mostly at night. Fighters say IS militants are hiding among civilians in a displaced people's camp to avoid airstrikes. Artillery rounds were meant to clear land mines for the SDF fighters to advance.

But SDF commanders insist the official end of the group's hold on territory in Syria is near.

"We will very soon bring good news to the whole world," said Ciya Furat, a commander with the Kurdish-led SDF, speaking at a news conference, miles away at the al-Omar Oil Field Base in the Deir el-Zour province.

The capture of the last pocket still held by IS fighters in Baghouz would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group's hold on territory in Syria and Iraq — their so-called "caliphate" that at the height of the group's power in 2014 controlled nearly a third of both Iraq and Syria.

President Donald Trump said the White House will make an announcement about Syria and the fight against IS by the end of Saturday.

"We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate and that will be announced over the next 24 hours," Trump told journalists at the White House on Friday.

An Associated Press team in Baghouz on Saturday heard several aircraft overhead. At least two airstrikes and mortar rounds were seen in the distance, close to the tiny area where the militants are said to be holed up. SDF fighters said they were fired by the U.S.-led coalition.

The SDF declared the final push to capture the village a week ago after more than 20,000 civilians, many of them the wives and families of foreign fighters, were evacuated. Since then, SDF commanders say they have been surprised to discover that there were hundreds of civilians still in the enclave, after they were brought up by the militants from underground tunnels. Their presence has slowed down the SDF advance.

Hostages, including fighters from the Kurdish-led forces and civilians, were another reason the advances were slowed down.

Furat, the SDF commander, said that his fighters were able to liberate 10 of their colleagues held by IS. He said IS fighters are now besieged in an area that is about 700 square meters (840 square yards).

Furat's comments were carried by Kurdish news agencies, including Hawar News.

"We are dealing with this small pocket with patience and caution. It is militarily fallen but civilians are used as human shields," SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali told the AP. Bali added that the SDF believes that IS gunmen are also holding previously kidnapped Syrians in the area.

SDF fighters said that as they cleared areas captured from IS they found some captives held in bathrooms four days earlier, including two soldiers from the Syrian government. They added that they have also removed and buried bodies of foreign fighters.

"We found bodies of Moroccans, Chinese and Chechnyans. Bodies of foreigners," said SDF fighter Hamza as he communicated with his comrades on his walkie-talkie.

Hamza said IS snipers still target their forces from among the civilians and described the abundance of land mines as a major challenge. He also had a message for the U.S. president.

"We tell Trump, it wasn't you that liberated it. It was us here on the ground," he added.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said SDF fighters are almost in full control of the area once controlled by extremists, adding that there might still be IS fighters hiding in a network of underground tunnels.

The Observatory said that some 200 IS gunmen surrendered Friday, days after about 240 others surrendered and were taken by SDF fighters and members of the U.S.-led coalition.

Furat said that after the physical defeat of IS, the SDF "will continue in its fight against Daesh sleepers cells."

Despite the expected defeat on the ground, activists and residents say IS still has sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq and is laying the groundwork for an insurgency. The group has claimed responsibility in recent months for deadly attacks, mostly in Iraq, more than a year after the Iraqi government said the extremists have been defeated after losing the northern city of Mosul in 2017, the largest they held.

Hamza, the fighter, said his forces have borne the brunt of the fighting in the ground offensive against the militants. Despite being on the brink of territorial defeat, the group remains a danger, he said.

"We can finish Daesh off in two days," Hamza said, using the Arabic acronym for IS. "But we need months or years to liberate the minds."

Srinagar, Feb 17 (AP/UNB) — As India considers its response to the suicide car bombing of a paramilitary convoy in the disputed region of Kashmir that killed dozens of soldiers, a retired military commander who oversaw a much-lauded military strike against neighboring Pakistan in 2016 has urged caution.

A local Kashmiri militant rammed an explosive-laden van into a convoy bus on Thursday, killing 41 soldiers and injuring two dozen others in the worst attack against Indian government forces in Kashmir's history. India blamed the attack on Pakistan and promised a "crushing response." New Delhi accuses its archrival of supporting rebels in Kashmir, a charge that Islamabad denies.

The retired commander, Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda, told The Associated Press on Saturday that while "some kind of limited (military) strike (against Pakistan) is more than likely," he hopes for "rethinking and reconciliation" from all sides in the conflict.

The former general, who was in charge of the army's northern command at the frontier with Pakistan in Kashmir and counterinsurgency operations, oversaw India's "surgical strikes" in September 2016 after militants attacked a military base in the frontier town of Uri near the highly militarized Line of Control.

Nineteen Indian soldiers and three assailants were killed in that attack. India instantly blamed Pakistan for supporting the attackers, who New Delhi alleged were Pakistani nationals.

At the peak of a 2016 civilian uprising triggered by the killing of a charismatic Kashmiri rebel leader, Hooda called for all sides to take a step back from the deadly confrontation, suggesting that political initiatives be taken instead. It was a rare move by a top Indian army general in Kashmir.

Later that year when the attack on the base in Uri happened, Hooda commanded what New Delhi called "surgical strikes" against militants in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir — which India said involved the country's special forces killing an unknown number of insurgents. Pakistan denied that the strikes ever occurred, demanding that India produce evidence to back up the claim.

Hooda has since said that the constant hype of "surgical strikes" was unwarranted.

Pakistani Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua rejected India's allegations about Pakistan's involvement in the attack, saying Saturday that it was part of New Delhi's "known rhetoric and tactics" to divert global attention from human rights violations. According to foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal, Janjua called for implementation of U.N. resolutions to solve the issue of Kashmir.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989, demanding Kashmir be made part of Pakistan or become an independent country. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.

A pre-recorded video circulated widely on social media showed the purported attacker, Adil Ahmed Dar, in combat clothes surrounded by guns and grenades claiming responsibility for the attack and calling for more such measures to drive India out of Kashmir.

Since 2016, soldiers from India and Pakistan have often traded fire along the frontier, blaming each other for initiating the skirmishes that have resulted in the deaths of dozens of soldiers and civilians on both sides in violation of a 2003 cease-fire accord.

Hooda said that considering the state of affairs in Kashmir, he wasn't surprised by the bombing.

"I just hope this all leads to some introspection, some deep thinking and engagement to do everything afresh and rethink what we all should be doing to settle issues once for all," he said.