07 August 2017•Update: 08 August 2017
By Zahid Rafiq and Aamir Latif
SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir
Indian army on Monday said it foiled an alleged infiltration attempt along the Line of Control -- the de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan -- and killed five suspected militants in the north of the disputed territory.
The suspected militants were intercepted in Machil border area in Kupwara district, army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia told Anadolu Agency.
Kalia also said five weapons were recovered from the slain men, identities of whom remain unknown so far.
Machil is the same area where Indian army soldiers in 2010 claimed to have killed "three foreign militants" during an alleged gun battle; the three slain men were later found to be civilians who had been killed in a staged gunfight by soldiers seeking financial rewards and promotions.
Meanwhile, Pakistan also accused Indian border forces of killing a civilian woman and injuring another after “unprovoked firing” along the LoC.
Pakistani military’s media wing, Inter Services Public Relations, said in a statement the army targeted Indian posts “in response”. 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. 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.
*Anadolu Agency’s Aamir Latif contributed to this story from Karachi, Pakistan.
