World

3 militants, Indian soldier killed in Kashmir fighting

November 21, 2017
People shout slogans as they carry the body of a suspected militant, who according to the local media was killed in a gun battle with Indian security forces on Monday in Seer village, during his funeral procession at Lurrow village in Kashmir’s Tral town on Tuesday. — Reuters
People shout slogans as they carry the body of a suspected militant, who according to the local media was killed in a gun battle with Indian security forces on Monday in Seer village, during his funeral procession at Lurrow village in Kashmir’s Tral town on Tuesday. — Reuters

SRINAGAR, India — In a surge in fighting between government forces and rebels seeking an end of Indian rule over Kashmir, at least three suspected rebels and an army commando were killed on Tuesday in two separate gun battles in the disputed region, police said.

Fighting erupted in the northwestern area of Handwara after Indian troops launched a counterinsurgency operation and killed three militants there, said Muneer Ahmed Khan, a senior police officer.

In another operation in the neighboring Kupwara area, a special forces soldier was killed in a continuing gun battle, police said.

Khan said government forces were battling a few militants trapped in the area.

There was no independent confirmation of the two clashes, the latest in a string of deadly shootouts between Indian forces and rebels in restive Kashmir. At least eight rebels, an Indian air force commando and a policeman have been killed in the last two days.

At least 190 rebels and 70 government soldiers have been killed in fighting this year.

Meanwhile, thousands of people attended the funeral prayers of a slain rebel in Tral area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday.

At least four militants also appeared in his funeral procession and fired some rounds in air to pay “homage to their fallen cadre.”

The rebel was killed in an encounter with security forces in Seer forest area of Tral on Monday.

He had escaped from an encounter in May 27 in which top Hizb commander and Burhan’s successor Sabzar Bhat was killed.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in its entirety. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the region, and most people support the rebels' cause while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. — Agencies


November 21, 2017
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