India seeks solution for Kashmir crisis

Violence spread to new areas of Indian Kashmir Wednesday, with five more protesters shot dead by police, as the government held crisis talks in New Delhi to tackle the escalating unrest.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was "shocked and distressed" by the demonstrations engulfing the disputed Himalayan area, where 18 people died Monday in the bloodiest day in three months of protests.

A cross-party meeting of political leaders in the capital ended with no new initiatives, however, besides a decision to send a fact-finding mission to "meet all sections of the people and gather all shades of opinion."

In violence Wednesday, police opened fire on a rally in the previously quiet town of Mendhar, a Muslim settlement in a Hindu-dominated area in the south of the region, about 210 kilometers from the town of Jammu.

"Four youths have been killed in the firing and several government buildings ... were attacked and burned down by the angry protesters," top local government official Pawan Kotwal told reporters.

Another death was reported by local police in the volatile northern town of Sopore, where police shot a 24-year-old man.

For three months young Kashmiris have thrown stones at security forces and rallied against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region, resulting in clashes that have left 93 people dead.

Police in Jammu said the crowd had tried to attack a missionary school in Mendhar.

Singh told the meeting of political parties in New Delhi that dialogue was the only way out of the crisis, but peace and calm have to be restored first.

The premier, who admitted last week that he was seeking a response, chaired the all-party meeting at his residence, with the government under pressure to show leadership.

Political leaders decided to send a cross-party, fact-finding mission to the area, but there was no consensus on partially withdrawing a tough military law that grants the armed forces sweeping powers and immunity.

The fact-finding mission will help inform policymakers, the government said.

AFP