We'll fight till the end: Hizb chief

Islamabad: One of India's most wanted men and the leader of a top militant group said in an interview aired on Thursday that Kashmiri guerrillas will keep fighting India until it ends its rule over Kashmir.

Syed Salahuddin, chief of Hizb-ul Mujahedeen, the largest Muslim rebel group fighting against Indian rule over part of Kashmir, also said in the interview with Pakistan's Geo TV that he was sure Pakistan will never hand him over to India.

Hizb-ul Mujahedeen is among about a dozen armed rebel groups that have been fighting India's security forces since 1989 in the Indian-controlled part of Muslim-majority Kashmir for its independence, or its merger with Pakistan.

In the TV interview, Salahuddin demanded that India recognize Kashmiris as a party to the dispute and settle it with “sincerity and seriousness”.

“Come what may, whatever the successes may be, until our right is acknowledged and a practical mechanism comes for giving us our right, our armed struggle will continue, God willing,” Salahuddin said in the interview Geo broadcast on Thursday.

The station said that the interview was conducted in a “remote” area in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir.

Salahuddin accused Indian security forces in Kashmir of involvement in human rights violations such as raping women, and abducting and killing children and Kashmiri intellectuals.

He warned that India should stop, or militants would launch attacks inside other parts of India.

“We will hit any soft target in any part of India. But we do not want (to do this),” he said.

“Our purpose is not to interfere with the people of India,” he added.

“We are fighting against Indian imperialism that has enslaved us through its 7,50,000 army,” he said.

Asked whether he had ever had any concerns that Pakistan might, under pressure, hand him over to India, Salahuddin said he “never for a moment” feared it.

“I am fully confident that the leadership of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan will not hand me over to India,” said Salahuddin, sporting a long, unruly black beard.