Big encounter.. Seems like its still on
DAWN.COM | World | Eight militants killed in battles in Indian Kashmir
SRINAGAR: Indian security forces killed eight militants on Friday in two separate gunbattles in Indian Kashmir, an army spokesman said, adding some of them were trying to enter the Indian territory from neigbouring Pakistan.
Indian army spokesman Vineet Sood told Reuters a policeman was also killed in one of the gun battles.
The clashes occurred amid mounting protests against New Delhi's rule in the disputed Himalayan region, which has been in a siege-like state of strikes, protests and curfew for months.
India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir while ruling it in parts.
More than 100 people have been killed and scores arrested in protests since June -- among the biggest since an armed separatist rebellion broke out in Kashmir in 1989.
Five militants were killed in the north of Kashmir as they tried to cross into the Indian side from Pakistani territory, while three militants and the policeman were killed in a battle in the Ganderbal area on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Sood said reports indicated exchanges of fire were continuing at both places.
India's federal government is trying hard to defuse the tension in the region and on Wednesday decided to free jailed protesters and reduce the number of checkpoints in the main city Srinagar as part of a peace move.
India has been concerned that the flare-up in Kashmir could affect its international image days ahead of the the Commonwealth Games, which open in New Delhi this weekend.
New Delhi has repeatedly accused Pakistan of arming, training and sending militants to its part of Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies.
India's security officials say militants based in Pakistan have stepped up efforts to infiltrate into Indian Kashmir before winter snow blocks the Himalayan mountain passes.
The army has continued to focus on conducting relentless counter infiltration operations on the Line of Control (LoC) as well as elimination of terrorists in the hinterland, the
Indian army said in a statement.