Kashmir strife deadly

Sixteen people were killed in violence across Indian Kashmir in 24 hours as a strike to protest against New Delhi's rule closed most shops and businesses in Srinagar, the state's main city.

Saif-u-Rehaman Bajwa, military chief of a leading separatist group, died in an overnight gunbattle in the city.

Elsewhere, 10 militants, four civilians and a soldier were killed in shooting and an explosion.

The strike was called by the main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, to mark the "black day" when Indian troops arrived in 1947 to counter an invasion by Pakistani tribesmen.

For its part, India's Defence Ministry marked "Martyrs' Day" and senior Army and state officials laid wreaths at a memorial for soldiers and civilians.