Indian army says it killed 12 militants in Kashmir
Five rebels were killed during a gun battle on Thursday in Hafrada forests, says Indian Army.
Indian paramilitary troops stop a Kashmiri woman during a curfew imposed on the Kashmiri summer capital in Srinagar on July 19, 2013. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
SRINAGAR:
The Indian army said it had killed 12 suspected militants in Kashmir in a forested area along the de facto border that divides the territory between India and Pakistan on Friday.
Five rebels were killed during a gun battle with the army on Thursday in Hafrada forests, 100 kilometres from Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir.
"The operation was launched on specific intelligence about the presence of a group of terrorists," an officer told media, asking not to be named.
Further operations beginning on Monday saw another seven men killed around the Pak-India border, known as the Line of Control, army general Gurmit Singh told reporters.
Singh said the militants belonged to Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba groups.
About a dozen militant groups have been fighting Indian forces in Kashmir since 1989 seeking independence for the region or a merger with Pakistan.
The violence has declined during the last decade but the fighting has left tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians dead.
The Indian army said it had killed 12 suspected militants in Kashmir in a forested area along the de facto border that divides the territory between India and Pakistan on Friday.
Five rebels were killed during a gun battle with the army on Thursday in Hafrada forests, 100 kilometres from Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir.
"The operation was launched on specific intelligence about the presence of a group of terrorists," an officer told media, asking not to be named.
Further operations beginning on Monday saw another seven men killed around the Pak-India border, known as the Line of Control, army general Gurmit Singh told reporters.
Singh said the militants belonged to Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba groups.
About a dozen militant groups have been fighting Indian forces in Kashmir since 1989 seeking independence for the region or a merger with Pakistan.
The violence has declined during the last decade but the fighting has left tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians dead.