Indian army soldier, 3 militants killed in Kashmir

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

Three militants, an Indian army soldier and a civilian were killed in separate gunbattles in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said.

Col. Rajesh Kalia, spokesman for Ministry of Defense in Kashmir, told Anadolu Agency two militants were killed in a gunbattle in the central Budgam district, while another was killed in the southern Dooru Shahabad town.

In a statement, local police said: “One Indian army soldier of 19 Rashtriya Rifles was also killed in the encounter.”

Earlier, Mohammad Saleem, a 26-year-old civilian, was killed in firing by the Indian forces in Noorbagh area in the capital city Srinagar.

According to the statement, police were attacked by the militants when they were cordoning off the cluster of houses in the area. They said the civilian was killed in the retaliatory gunfire.

However, the family members of the slain youth said that there were no militants in the area and declared the incident “a cold-blooded murder” by Indian forces.

Later, at least nine people received pellet gun wounds following a clash with police during their protest against the killings.

“Nine injured people with wounds from the pellet guns were admitted to our hospital in Srinagar,” Dr. Saleem Tak, medical superintendent at a local hospital, told Anadolu Agency.

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.