India kills 2 militants in disputed Kashmir

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – Indian security forces killed two militants in a gunfight early Thursday morning in disputed Kashmir.
The slain militants belonged to the separatist Hizbul Mujahideen group, police said.
A grenade attack by the militants on Wednesday had injured four policemen in the same town, Sopore, in the north, they added.
Pro-independence protests erupted in parts of the town as news of the shootout spread.
Last week, two militants, including a popular commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, were killed in southern Kashmir’s Tral area, leading to a three-day shutdown and protests across the valley.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
The two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – since they were partitioned in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.
Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.