Kashmiri militant groups said they were sending more Muslim guerrillas into Indian Kashmir than at any time in the last two years.

Their statement came as India accused Pakistan of refusing to cooperate in the fight against terrorism after killing least 16 suspected Muslim guerrillas in a string of gun battles as they tried to slip into disputed Kashmir from Pakistan.

"We are still sending mujahideen (holy warriors) across the Line of Control into Indian-occupied Kashmir," a leader of one major militant group fighting Indian rule in part of the disputed region said.

"We will continue our jihad (holy war) come what may," said the leader, who declined to be identified, defying efforts to improve ties between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors.

Violence has soared in Indian Kashmir in recent weeks, casting a cloud over tentative peace steps between the two rivals, who nearly went to war for a fourth time last year over the mountainous territory.

Police in Indian Kashmir said more than 171 people, mostly rebels, had been killed in the first two weeks of September.

"Despite restrictions by the Pakistan government, we sent the highest number of militants into Indian-occupied Kashmir in August of any time in the last couple of years," the militant leader said.

President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military leader and a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, cracked down on militant groups last year after a bloody attack on the Indian parliament which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Muslim guerrillas.

He outlawed two Islamic groups -- Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba -- blamed for the attack. Authorities have arrested hundreds of radicals.

But India insists Pakistan must do more to curb the flow of Muslim guerrillas from its side of Kashmir into Indian-ruled territory before talks can resume.

"If Pakistan is to move toward moderation and a progressive society, as General Musharraf claims as his objective, it has to give up using fundamentalism, terrorism and subversion against other countries," an Indian Foreign Ministry statement said on Thursday.

"We are amused, disappointed but not surprised by the refusal of Pakistan to cooperate with us to eradicate the scourge of terrorism,"it said.

The militant leaders said it was not easy for Pakistan to curb their activities in Kashmir.

"The Pakistan army cannot stop us (from crossing) because they cannot plug every route," said a leader of another militant movement, who also declined to be named.

"Almost a dozen groups comprising 10 to 15 mujahideen each crossed into occupied Kashmir in just one area in the last two weeks of August," he said.

Indian army officials said that, as in previous years, more rebels were trying to enter Kashmir before winter snow blocked the high mountain passes.

Muslim Pakistan denies Indian charges that it arms rebels and sends them across the border to join the 13-year revolt against New Delhi's rule in Kashmir.

Islamabad says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to what it calls the Kashmiri people's struggle for self-determination.

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