4 killed in Kashmir shootout

By Hilal Mir

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – Four people were killed in a shootout in the Jammu province of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir region on Wednesday, police said.

Additional director general of police (Jammu), Mukesh Singh, told reporters that the police were extra vigilant in the wake of the heightened security measures taken before India's Republic Day celebrations on Jan. 26. He said the police noticed that a truck was moving in "an unusual manner" on a key highway in Jammu and followed it for a distance before signaling the driver to stop.

“The driver came down and fled from the spot on the pretext of answering nature's call. Meanwhile, the policemen that were searching the truck came under fire and returned the fire,” Singh said. During the shootout, the truck caught fire, he said, adding that four suspected “militants” were killed in the encounter.

Seven AK-47 rifles and ammunition were recovered from the deceased, while the driver and the owner of the truck are yet to be identified, Singh said.

Gunfights between Indian forces and militants are rare in the Hindu-majority Jammu province, compared to the Kashmir Valley, which has been the epicenter of the anti-India insurgency since 1990.

On Dec. 7, India's Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told Indian Parliament that a total of 123 militancy incidents were recorded till November 2022 in the Muslim-majority region, which was stripped of its autonomy on Aug 5, 2022.

- Disputed region

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, India and Pakistan have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – two of them over Kashmir.

Indian and Pakistani troops have also fought intermittently in the northern Siachen region since 1984. A cease-fire took 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 have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989.