Nine killed in Kashmir violence

The authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir say nine people have been killed in two separate incidents since Wednesday.

Police said five people, including three Indian army soldiers, were killed after a clash between troops and separatists near Srinagar.

In another incident, four other soldiers were killed and nine others injured in a blast in Kashmir's Kargil sector.

The clashes come as the Indian prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, prepares to meet the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, in Delhi this weekend.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service