Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard in Srinagar on October 5, 2013. PHOTO: AFP
SRINAGAR: India's army, which says it has been locked in a nearly two-week battle with dozens of suspected rebels, claimed on Saturday that it has killed seven militants in 24 hours in the disputed Kashmir region.
The military says it has been fighting 30 to 40 rebel infiltrators who crossed the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) last month.
"Four militants were killed in the Fateh Gali area" of Indian Kashmir on Saturday, Colonel Rajesh Kalia told AFP, adding three other rebel suspects were killed in another gunbattle in nearby Gujardur area the previous day.
Kalia said assault rifles, pistols and rocket launchers were found at the scene of the latest firefight, just west of the abandoned village of Shala Bhattu in Kashmir's Keran sector.
Pakistan on Saturday claimed that Indian troops had killed at least four young boys in the Kupwara district during a violent military operation in Fateh Galli area of Keran district.
The fighting has been taking place in and around Shala Bhattu, 140 kilometres (85 miles) northwest of the main city of Srinagar, in densely forested terrain high in the Himalayas since September 23.
The Indian army claims that the infiltrators may include some special Pakistani troops - its Border Action Teams (BATs) that the Indians say are a mix of specially trained Pakistani troops and militants.
Islamabad has denied any involvement in the fighting.
It is one of the longest Indian army operations to flush out militants in Kashmir in recent years.
"The terrorists are holed up," General Bikram Singh, the Indian army chief, told reporters Friday, but added "it is difficult, treacherous terrain".
"We will take them on. It is a question of time," he said, declining to indicate when the fighting might end.
An Indian army commander said late last month 12 suspected militants were killed in Shala Bhattu. No other casualty figures have been given since the fighting erupted.
Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Political Movement (DPM) chairman Firdous Ahmad Shah has said that India is intentionally sabotaging the peace process in Kashmir.
Shah added that India was falsely claiming that Pakistani army had entered into Kashmir to damage the peace process in Kashmir.
The scale of the alleged incursion has led to Indian media talk of a "mini-Kargil" situation, a reference to a Pakistani intrusion into Kashmir's Kargil region in 1999 that left hundreds dead on both sides. But the Indian army has rejected such suggestions.
The latest killings follow talks between Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh last weekend on the sidelines of a UN meeting.
The two leaders agreed to try to defuse tensions along the LoC, where regular firefights between the two armies have taken place this year, resulting in deaths on both sides.
Sharif is seeking new peace talks with India to settle Kashmir and other outstanding differences, but Singh has been reluctant until Pakistan cracks down on Pakistan-based militant leaders who masterminded the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The two countries blame each other for over 100 violations of the ceasefire since the year's start.
Rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces in Indian Kashmir since 1989 for the region's independence or incorporation within Pakistan, in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
COMMENTS (53)
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@saad: excuse me, Don't try to put a feather on your hat, Azad Kashmir was captured during 1947 war, which was then ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh. You would have been pushed back if Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had not sought for UN intervention. Check 1947 UN resolution on Kashmir and Shimla agreement. You have been misguided by your own education system and powerful Military regime. The Australian news, as you have claimed, is about the one time scenario of 1965 war but it does not clearly says about the capture of Azad Kashmir as per your claim. So wake up, do research before your propose something.
@Rabbani No wonder they say Indians live in fool’s paradise.
No thank you! we want no part of your paradise
The voice of us Pandits has been supressed through forced conversions and ethnic cleansing of the community from the valley over hundreds of years. That's exactly how the "majority" you talk about was formed. As late as 1990-91, half a million of us were forced out of the valley. Is that the voice of the "majority" - to trample over the human rights of hundreds of thousands of locals?
The voices of majority matters the most, which obviously are Muslims.
@ rabbani, @ aqib
I am a Kashmiri Pandit, and I strongly believe that Kashmir is an integral part of India! It was the cradle of Vedic civilisation, and immensely important to our culture. What about us, the original people of the valley? Does our voice not count for anything?
Observer
No wonder they say Indians live in fool's paradise.
@Rabbani:
" I do desire, peace just like you do, but South Asia will witness peace when India ceases the occupation of IoK. Kashmiris don’t want to live with India. I guess 65 years should have been enough for naive Indians to understand that. "
Tell us why one could just replace "India" with "Pakistan" and "Kashmiris" with "Baloch" in your comment above?
Here is the mirror to reflect your own image:
I do desire, peace just like you do, but South Asia will witness peace when Pakistan ceases the occupation of Balochistan. The Baloch don’t want to live with Pakistan. I guess 65 years should have been enough for naive Pakistanis to understand that.
@aqib Kashmir may be an "internationally recognised disputed area", but situation in Kashmir and Balochistan is quite the same. In fact, more people die every month in Balochistan at the hands of PA & militants than the number of "innocent" people being killed by IA in Kashmir in a whole year. And no, situation in Kashmir & Balochistan is similar, but its not the same case in Assam and other states of India. Because there might have been protests and long time demands but the demands are not for separation from India. They protest for better rights and more development for the people of their own tribes. None of them are not demanding separation from India. On the other hand, some separatists in Kashmir have been provoking the local Muslims against Indian government for long time and are supported by militants from Pakistan which you like to label as "freedom fighters". At the same time, there are people in Balochistan too that are demanding separation from Pakistan which you conveniently label as "terrorists" instead of "freedom fighters". Even then, there's one big difference between Kashmir & Balochistan. MOST people in Indian Kashmir (including Muslims of all sects) are seeing development in the form of jobs all across India, railways, highways, etc. Except for the few violent separatists, all other Kashmiri citizens live their daily life peacefully under the tight security of Indian Army. Also, contrary to what most young Pakistanis believe, Indian Kashmir is much more peaceful and the whole Kashmiri police department is filled with local Kashmiris, majority of whom are Muslims. Whereas, people in Balochistan neither have proper jobs, nor are they being able to live in peace due to large number of Islamist extremists living in there where even Pakistan Army does not dare to go. Balochis, on one hand, get killed by militants and on other hand, by Pakistan Army. They demand separation from Pakistan because Pakistan has failed to offer development to the people of Balochistan. Way lesser deaths happen in whole of vast land of India by militancy than what happens in Pakistan every single month. You can decide who is more peaceful.
@Pakistani Ostrich, I am quite impressed that you picked up my political leaning with PTI well...anyway as far as TTP is concerned, for last 9 years we have been fighting there. too many people have died(as per Wikipedia 5000 Pakistan soldiers, 27000 militants and 15-40000 civilians),and all this bloodshed has created more bloodshed. after all our opponents (not my brothers either) there, believe in only revenge as their culture. with respect to India, if the status quo remains in Kashmir, nothing much now, that we can do about it? but at least don't go head over heels in developing friendship(commerce) with the very people who have been a cause of so many of our problems.
@Alann, Kashmir is an internationally recognised disputed area..that's why! By your definition, east India(assam and 6 other nearby provinces)should also be allowed freedom from India..and while we are at it, the insurgents in orissa should get the same privilege.
@bashir ".@Rabbani "..You want to develop commerce over the corpses of 50,000 people who have been killed without mercy!!...what can I say about your thinking, who is calling these people terrorists…" Good response to the indians. But here is my question: Why do you (i know you are a PTIian or a mullah type) want to have negotiations with your (not mine) misguided brothers, the TTP. The TTP have killed 40,000+ (and counting) innocent civilians ( woman, childern and mosque destroyed). In fact the TTP has killed more Jawans than the soldiers killed by the indians in all the wars combined!!!
We have sacrificed a lot in terms of blood, resources and our international image for the kashmir cause. The only way i would feel sympathy for kashmiris anymore is if they are ready to be part of us. After having talked to many kashmiri from the valley, they want independence not be part of us anymore!! We should not accept that. In fact we should not waste our blood and resources for them, (if they want to be independent) they can fight their own battle against the indians.
@aqib
The "oppressed" Muslims drove away all minorities from the area where they are majority. Seems to be a usual pattern here, First Hindus, then Christians, shias and ahmedis.
By your logic if LeT Punjabis terrorising Kashmir is justified then Indians fighting against the oppression of muslim terrorists against other religions in Kashmir is quite justified too.
Hence by your logic Hindu army is fighting a just war (or Jihad) against Muslim terrorist oppression. or Is Jihad only for Muslims?
@aqib:"why are you confusing a struggle against ‘oppressive rule’ (justified), with a struggle aimed to create ‘oppressive rule’(not justified)’?"
I'm sure India will give over its "hold" on Kashmir, soon after Pakistan frees the oppressed people of Balochistan who have been demanding freedom since 1947. Violence in Kashmir was started much later, around 1989, but Balochis have been suffering for last 67 years.
@Begger Paki; why are you confusing a struggle against 'oppressive rule' (justified), with a struggle aimed to create 'oppressive rule'(not justified)'?
I don't know why some guys are paranoid about Islam it's not about your religion but some chaps in my house the boys are just cleaning them up
@Rabbani: In 65 years we understood very well that some Kashmiris don;t want to live with India. Who is forcing them ? They can go to their promised land Pakistan.
@aqib: In that sense there are many more martyrs blowing up your citizens daily.
To all Sensible Pakistanis-
Forget the obsession over Indian Kashmir,learn to live with the territories you got and stop lusting after what India has.India doesn't want anything from you but peace and co operation.Try to improve the lives of your own people instead of dreaming the impossible situation of having Indian Kashmir with you.Nations around India has a good understanding of its intentions and are behaving like wise.
Read about Bangladesh purchasing electricity from India.They too are muslims and they got any problems with India the way Pakistan has?
High time to realize that those who give false hope of getting Indian Kashmir is denying Pakistanis the fundamental right to lead a dignified life and hope of a better tomorrow. You decide who are responsible the sorry state of yours.... Hope ET publish this as an Indian perspective.
@FYI yes they are Mujahideens and Jihadis because they are fighting against the army who occupied their lands forcefully and illegally. world doesn't consider kashmir to be the integral part of india nor do UN thats why it is called disputed territory and simple answer to this is let UN hold out the referendum in kashmir under its watch and let the people decide. But again india is so paranoid about this because they know people will either choose to accede to pakistan or want to just get their freedom from India. in the latest protest People held out pakistan flag which clearly proves they want to accede to Pakistan. Indians just like to blame others when they know who is the really problem to all this.
@Max hahah yeah right losing 3 wars. well then how come pakistan got azad kashmir from india clutches azad kashmir make 1/3 of the whole kashmire if we lost according to you we would not have kashmire right now and second war that was fought in 1965 well i am not saying this nor did i made this up Australian news papers make their headlines pakistan beat india in biggest tank battle after world war 2 and defended the country against the enemy which was 3 times bigger then pakistan and if we lost according to you then lahore would have been captured as well as sialkot sorry to say but your army didn't nor did they were able to regain kashmire. and the 3rd war 1971 we lost and we do accept that we are not like indian who don't accept their defeat and according to your army General pakistan army fought gallantly and gave us tough time i didn't make up this it was it was mention by your army General in his book. and last four war that was in 1999 kargil well pakistan army did lost but let me tell your this pak army still have controlled over one or 2 post in kargil which is strategically important and reported NDTV by your india channel and don't forgot about your army biggest defeat when they lost half of the territory to China these are the facts.
I don't believe ,bcz indian army only knows how to kill their own civilians.Indian knows well how to make good propaganda against Pak.
@Rabbani:
Pakistan should thank the Indians for killing these terrorists who otherwise would be bombing targets in Pakistan killing Pakistanis. Keep sending more and more of these terrorists to India to be killed one by one by the Indian army. A real cheap and easy way for Pakistan to rid its territory of these terrorists.
@ Rabbani
Sir,how is Baig an unIndian name ? Do all the Baig's of this world live only in Pakistan... Baig is my father's surname : )
@Momin: "Indians are jealous and stubborn and refuse to accept the glorious path of Islam. This is why they hate Muslims"
Hope you are enjoying all the glories in your Gloristan. Better you save your glories. We are quite happy the way we are.
Pakistan has been consistent in their policy of issuing denials on the cross-border terrorism for many decades and its not only India but the entire world condemns this self-destructive policy. Pak PM appears to be quite sincere in improving relations with India and wants to start talks but in the first place he needs to hold serious discussions with his own military who is putting obstacles by sending militants across the LoC on a regular basis. How on this earth can Pakistan deny of a 12 days old ongoing operation in the Keran sector of Kupwara Distt, where 30 to 40 militants are holed up ? Unfortunately, this dual policy is not going bring any peace between the two countries but also be detrimental to peace in Pakistan itself.
why pakistan different from other countries in the world? one(out of 100) reason pakistanis don't differentiate between rebels and terrorists.
@true version: lol..... good 1 bro.... glorious path of islam....lets name the place where these peaceful people wreaked havoc in recent times... france,kenya,myanmar,south asia,britain,russia,boston america....uff man the list is too long ...i give up!! :D
@saad: I know your army is the strongest in the world with loosing 3 wars plus Kargil. Why on earth would it start talks with our supported TTP. Are they too freedom fighters? You have an opposition leader who is called a Jew and a terrorist in Pakistan. To top the icing the APC meeting call TTP "our brothers".
@ Bashir
So will you be satisfied when that number becomes 5,00,000 ? No ? How about 50,00,000 ? Still no ? 5,00,00,000 ?
@Rabbani: "... barbaric cannibals under the garb of Indian Army." It is the cannibals who sever heads of their victims and carry them home as trophies! Guess who?
My mistake. my statement was not @Rabbani...it was for @Baig
@Baig: I do desire, peace just like you do, but South Asia will witness peace when India ceases the occupation of IoK. Kashmiris don't want to live with India. I guess 65 years should have been enough for naive Indians to understand that. And by the way, it doesn't hurt to own one's identity. Did you know you could still comment even if your name sounded Indian? What's so bad about India that almost all Indians are ashamed to own her?
ok..pakis..two words............"send more"
@saad then in balochistan rebels will be called freedom fighter. @momon islaam is "stubborn and 0 tolerance", and many things are illogical like 4 male witness for rape, husband can beat wife and list goes on. u believe whatever but why to make others to believe forcefully.
@saad: You've missed my point. The title says - Indian army claims killing rebels - I said that the Indian army will have claimed no such thing. You call them rebels, we call them militants or terrorists. So you can either change the title to "Indian army kills seven suspected rebels" which is your prerogative, or to "Indian army claims killing seven militants" which reflects the actual army statement.
Now u decide urself the commonsense of great Pure people..
For them if innocent are killed in kashmir by army...they are mujahids and true warriors as well as martyrs.....
But when same people in uniform kill the innocent baloch people those baloch people are labelled as terrorist...
Pakistan Zindabad..salute to common muslim pakistani....from an educated person....
@Rabbani You want to develop commerce over the corpses of 50,000 people who have been killed without mercy!! what can I say about your thinking, who is calling these people terrorists...
@BlackJack; The entire 80% population(non-muslim) of India can call these men terrorists, and you can have the highest 'recommendations' for your statement-but one can never negate the true reality, that these men died in a conflict of long standing oppressive rule..in our belief they are 'martyrs' who 'never die'.
Indians are jealous and stubborn and refuse to accept the glorious path of Islam. This is why they hate Muslims. They lack the will to follows the five pillars so they want to drag the muslims down to their own dirty level.
Now collect these bodies and make a bonfire opposite. Afterall, it must be cold up there.
@blackjack its say rebels because they are fighting for freedom against the illegal occupation of kashmir by indian army.and secondly your army always blame their failure on others because they are not capable to fight an organized army how will they fight these rebels.
@Rabbani: It shows your utter callousness towards the men who die to let you live happily at home. Yes, some mistakes may have taken place. They are not gods, but under the circumstances that they are working, it is awe inspiring. Imagine being under the shadows of death every day and night.
@ Rabbani
Let go of these paranoid suspicions brother. Whether India kills terrorists or Pak army...either way,good riddance. If both clean up together,we will have zero militancy & peace & stability in a few years. And prosperity & development always comes to a stable,peaceful region with a good reputation. We can both be developed countries in a few decades & form a strong South Asian bloc of commerce,investment & military strength. The colonial powers exploited the enemity between all Indians- moghuls vs rajputs vs marathas etc.etc....this is how we we all slaves to Britishers/outsiders History will repeat itself when the Chinese/outsiders exploit Indo-Pak enemity in the exact same way. Long live India & Pakistan.
@ Rabbani
Let go of these paranoid suspicions brother. Whether India kills terrorists or Pak army...either way,good riddance. If both clean up together,we will have peace & stability in a few years. And prosperity & development always comes to a stable,peaceful region with a good reputation. We can both be developed countries in a few decades & form a strong South Asian bloc of commerce,investment & military strength. The colonial powers exploited the enemity between all Indians- moghuls vs rajputs vs marathas etc.etc....this is how we we all slaves to Britishers/outsiders History will repeat itself when the Chinese/outsiders exploit Indo-Pak enemity is the exact same way.
Indian troops should nutralize the 'rebel production source' with strong determination like in 1971.
Even though India will provide visual proof of those terrorist crossing border from pakistan with ak47, grenades and killed during cross firing, you pakistani will say that they are rebel not terrorist. That means, those barbaric killer of Christians/Shia/Minority in pakistan are actually rebel group of pakistan, not terrorist.
Why does the title say rebels? Indian troops will never claim killing rebels - ET is being economical with the truth. These are terrorists, and India would not be involved in a week long battle with them if they weren't heavily armed and supported by professional troops.
News the next day: The men killed yesterday were not militants, but innocent civilians who had to bore the wrath of barbaric cannibals under the garb of Indian Army.