Indian forces kill 3 suspected militants in Kashmir

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) - Indian armed forces on Saturday killed three suspected militants in a gunbattle in Chattabal area, on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

The gunbattle broke out on Saturday morning after the Indian forces launched a search operation in the area, where mobile phone internet services have also been suspended, locals said.

“The bodies of all the three militants have been retrieved. One is a local from Srinagar while the identities of two are being ascertained,” police spokesperson Manoj Pandita told Anadolu Agency.

Protests erupted in the area soon after the gunbattle started, with the protesters hoping to give the trapped militants a chance to escape.

Meanwhile, locals alleged that a protester was mowed down and killed in the adjoining neighborhood of Safa Kadal by the police with their vehicle.

However, the police described the incident as a road accident and said that they have filed a report in this regard.

“How a murder was committed by the forces today and then brazenly denied. Is there no sense of humanity left in India?” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of Hurriyat (M), posted on his Twitter account along with the alleged video of the incident.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mirwaiz said he was put under house arrest on Friday while Yasin Malik, head of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was arrested as they were expected to hold a joint news conference on Saturday.

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 which were fought 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.