Indian forces kill 3 militants in Kashmir

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) - Three militants were killed on Saturday morning in southern Kashmir after Indian forces ambushed them in a house where they were hiding, police said.

The paramilitary and army launched a joint operation in Panzgam village in Pulwama district after receiving a tip off.

“In the ensuing encounter, three terrorists were killed and the bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter,” police said in a statement.

The militants belong to pro-Pakistan militant group Hizbul Mujahideen and have been identified as Showkat Dar, Irfan War, and Muzaffar Sheikh, the statement added.

The killings come two days after five Kashmiri militants, two Kashmiri civilians and two Indian soldiers were killed in two separate gunbattles.

Jammu and 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.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.