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Army soldiers laid a cordon in a forested area in southern
Kishtwar district on Wednesday following a tip that a group of
insurgents was operating there, an army statement said.
A search in the area by soldiers led to a firefight with
militants, initially leaving one militant dead late Wednesday,
the statement said.
It added that despite inclement weather, troops maintained their
cordon in the area, triggering more exchanges of gunfire that
resulted in the killing of two more militants on Saturday.
The army did not report any casualties on its side.
However, in another incident, the Indian army said its soldiers
in southern Akhnoor area intercepted a group of militants close
to the heavily militarized Line of Control dividing the disputed
Himalayan region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan late
Friday. Fighting ensued during which one army officer was
killed, it said.
The statement said militants were trying to infiltrate into the
Indian side from the Pakistan-controlled area.
There was no independent confirmation of either of the
incidents.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of
Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been
fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris
support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under
Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored
terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris
consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of
civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the
conflict.
The territory has simmered in anger since 2019 when New Delhi
ended the region’s semiautonomy and drastically curbed dissent,
civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying
counterinsurgency operations.
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