3 suspected militants, an Indian army officer killed in Kashmir fighting

Three suspected militants and an army officer have been killed in two separate gunbattles in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the Indian army said Saturday (12 April).

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, AP reports.

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.