Indian security forces today tightened their siege of a mosque in disputed Kashmir where a group of Muslim rebels have been holed up since yesterday, police said.
"Security forces have tightened their cordon around the mosque and adjacent areas where a number of militants have taken shelter," a senior paramilitary official told reporters.
"The whole area of Panzan has been put under siege."
Panzan is a village 10 miles west of Srinagar, the summer capital of the rebellion-torn Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir.
It is the fifth time in six months that guerrillas have sought refuge in a mosque in the state. Two of the sieges ended in bloodshed.
Muslim separatist violence has escalated across the region since the US-led strikes on Afghanistan began 20 days ago. Nearly 200 people, mostly rebels, have been killed since then.
Security forces had estimated yesterday there were four separatist guerrillas in the mosque, but police said they were not sure exactly how many there were now.
The guerrillas hid in the mosque to evade a cordon thrown around the area by security forces tipped off to the presence of the separatists.
Residents said they heard intermittent gunshots during the night, but officials said there was no exchange of fire.
At least a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in India's only Muslim-majority state where officials say about 30,000 people have died in nearly 12 years of conflict.
Separatists put the toll closer to 80,000.