Kashmir's main separatists urged Amnesty International yesterday to help identify human remains in nearly a thousand unmarked graves discovered by a local human rights group over the past year.
The graves were found in cemeteries in 18 villages along a military control line dividing India and Pakistan, the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) said in a weekend report after carrying out a year-long survey.
The APDP, which estimates that around 10,000 people went missing during the nearly two-decade-old separatist revolt in Kashmir, says many of the missing could have ended up in these unmarked graves.
"We appeal to Amnesty International and human rights groups to identify the people buried," said Shabir Shah, a leader of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference.
"This is the tip of the iceberg. A serious survey and investigation will discover more such graveyards where innocent people are buried after security forces killed them," Shah said.
Authorities have denied the allegations, saying such reports were intended to malign Indian security forces, and the graves were those of militants killed by them over the years.
"These are baseless claims. Security forces have nothing to do with the burial of the people," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel A.K. Mathur said.
Indian troops, fighting separatist militants in Kashmir, have been accused in the past of murdering innocent civilians in staged gun battles and passing them off as separatist militants to earn rewards and promotions.
Last year authorities charged more than a dozen policemen and soldiers with killing at least two civilians in fake gun battles and claiming they were militants.
The killings triggered widespread protests in Kashmir.
"During our survey villagers reported most of the dead bodies were of Kashmiris and not foreign militants as claimed by the security forces," said Parvez Imroz, spokesman for APDP. "This deserves a probe."
Militants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir have been fighting alongside Kashmiri militants across the region.
Officials say the level of violence has fallen since India and Pakistan, both of whom claim the region in full but rule it in parts, began peace talks in 2004.
People are still killed in daily shootouts and occasional bomb attacks, however.
Indian police said yesterday that troops had dealt a fresh blow to Kashmir's main rebel group by killing two of its top commanders during a gun battle.
The fighting erupted on Tuesday when Indian troops, backed by counter-insurgency police, raided a hide-out near Srinagar.
"We have killed two top Hizbul Mujahedin commanders," said Nitish Kumar, the police chief for Anantnag District.
Hizbul Mujahedin wants to fold Indian Kashmir into Pakistan.
Kumar said the two commanders were divisional commander Aslam Khan and district commander Javaid Ahmad Lone.
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