Five Indian soldiers killed in IIOJK

SRINAGAR:

At least five Indian soldiers were killed while two Kashmiri freedom fighters embraced martyrdom in a series of gun battles in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, media reported on Monday.

In the deadliest incident for the country's security forces in the disputed region this year, a military official said five soldiers were killed in a shootout near the Line of Control.

"They were moved to a nearby medical facility but succumbed to their injuries," spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Davinder Anand said.

The Muslim-majority region has been on the edge since the killing of three Hindus and a Sikh last week which triggered a crackdown by Indian authorities.

Meanwhile, Pakistan, while strongly condemning the arrest of over 1,400 Kashmiris on orchestrated charges in IIOJK, on Monday said the arrests were prime example of India's state-terrorism and trampling of fundamental human rights in IIOJK.

"Pakistan strongly condemns the arrest of over 1,400 Kashmiris on false charges in one of the biggest ever crackdowns in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)," Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said in a statement issued here.

"These arbitrary arrests and detentions by Indian Occupation Forces are prime example of India's state-terrorism and trampling of fundamental human rights in IIOJK," he stressed.

The Foreign Office spokesperson described the recent surge in extra-judicial killings, staged cordon-and-search operations and arbitrary arrests in IIOJK as a source of serious alarm for the international community.

Last month, Pakistan unveiled a comprehensive dossier comprising irrefutable evidences of gross and systematic human rights violations, war crimes and false flag operations in IIOJK being carried out by Indian Occupation forces with impunity.

"India must recognise that no amount of brutalization of Kashmiris can suppress their voice and the legitimate movement to achieve their inalienable right to self-determination. Nor will India's illegal and unlawful actions be able to mislead the world into accepting India's false narrative against the Kashmiris," the spokesperson maintained. Agencies