'Top Kashmir militant killed'

The military in Indian-administered Kashmir say a senior leader of the Islamic militant group, the Hizbul Mujahideen, has been killed in an exchange of fire.

A bus attack on Tuesday wounded some 50 Indian soldiers

A military spokesman said the man, Bilal Habhse, was shot dead by Indian troops in the district of Budgam.

He described his killing as a major breakthrough for the Indian security forces.

Officials in Indian-administered Kashmir now say that 50 Indian soldiers were wounded in a landmine explosion near the summer capital, Srinagar, on Tuesday, that hit a bus.

They had earlier put the figure at 10 wounded.

In another development one of the main separatist political parties in Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), said it no longer opposed direct talks between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute, without the participation of Kashmiri representatives.

The chairman of the party, Yasin Malik, told reporters in the summer capital Srinagar, that his party would not call a strike or organise protests if Indian and Pakistani leaders met on the sidelines of the south Asian regional summit in Islamabad next week to discuss a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir dispute.