6 militants, 1 Indian soldier killed in Kashmir

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

Six militants and one Indian army soldier were killed in three separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, local media and police said.

“In the morning, two militants were killed in a gun battle in Kreeri in northern Kashmir. Later in the day four militants were killed in another gun battle in Arwani in Kashmir’s south,” police spokesman Manoj Pandita said.

Later in the evening, an Indian army soldier was killed and another injured when militants opened fire on an army camp in Tral in south Kashmir, local newspaper Greater Kashmir reported.

Police officials said the military started cordon and search operation soon after the attack to track the militants.

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.