Kashmir: 3 militants, 1 Indian soldier killed

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

Three militants and one Indian soldier were killed in a gun battle in a southern district of disputed Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

"In the village of Algar Kandi in Pulwama, one Army soldier and three militants were killed," police spokesperson Manoj Pandita told Anadolu Agency.

Police said that the three slain militants belonged to the Jaish-e-Muhammad militant outfit.

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.

Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu-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.