Five police killed in Kashmir ambush

Attack came only one day after ceasefire extension

Five Indian police officers have been killed by suspected separatists in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Their vehicle came under attack in Kokernag, some 75 km (47 miles) south of the summer capital Srinagar, police say.

No group has yet said it carried out the attack.

The ambush comes a day after the Indian Government extended its unilateral ceasefire against Muslim militants in Kashmir.

It was unclear whether the police vehicle was hit by a bomb blast or fired upon.

Ceasefire rejected

Delhi's three-month extension of the truce, which started in November, has been rejected by all the armed groups fighting Indian rule in the region.

Even as he announced the extension, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee warned that India's patience with Muslim militants had its limits.

"Law and order shall be maintained. Those who think that our security forces are less determined today to put an end to terrorism are only deluding themselves," the prime minister said on Thursday.

Pakistan described the announcement as "yet another attempt to mislead world opinion".

Critics of the ceasefire say extra-judicial killings and human rights abuses by Indian security forces are at an all-time high.

The truce - which had been due to expire on 26 February - only bars Indian forces from offensive operations against Muslim separatists.

The Kashmiri cities of Srinagar and Haigam have recently seen the worst civil unrest in a decade following reports of the death in custody of a Kashmiri independence activist.

Mr Vajpayee has blamed the violence on Pakistan's inability to curb separatist militants.

Islamabad denies backing the militants.

The two countries have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.