Pakistan rejects militants' bodies

Harkatul Mujahideen is active in Kashmir

Pakistani border guards are reported to have refused to allow the bodies of several Pakistani militants killed in an American raid on Kabul to returned to Pakistan.

A least 22 militants of the Pakistan-based Harkatul Mujahideen, which fights Indian rule in Kashmir, were killed when a bomb hit a house in Kabul during the latest US air strikes.

Harkatul Mujahideen sources in Islamabad said they were in Kabul in a personal capacity to "devise a plan for fighting against America".

The group was recently included by the United States in the list of entities that it says were involved in acts of terrorism. The group, however, denies any involvement in such acts.

The AFP press agency reported that the bodies of eight of the militants were brought to the Torkham border post early on Wednesday morning.

"We had instructions from higher authorities not to receive the bodies," a border official told AFP.

The deaths of the militants is the first time a large number of pro-Taleban militants have been killed since the start of the US-led military strikes in Afghanistan.

They were believed to be attending a meeting inside a house in Kabul's Darul Amman area.

Bin Laden links

Reports say that 19 people were killed on the spot and three of the injured later died at the hospital.

It is not clear how many others were wounded.

Among those killed was a prominent Pakistani militant leader, Ustad Farooq.

His brother told the Associated Press that his body would be brought back to Karachi on Wednesday afternoon.

Harkatul Mujahideen has remained active in armed militancy in Indian-administered Kashmir for the last several years.

It has also been associated with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan and is believed to have close links with Osama Bin Laden.