Five dead in Indian Kashmir gun battle

SRINAGAR:

Four suspected rebels and a soldier were killed early Thursday in Indian-administered Kashmir in a gun battle near the Line of Control (LoC), the second incident in 24 hours, a police officer said.

Police sealed off a forested area in northern Handwara overnight on suspicion militants were moving towards a village, triggering a 10-hour gun battle between government forces and rebels.

“The militants were engaged near a stream in the forested area. All four of them were killed and we also lost a soldier in the firefight,” deputy inspector general of police for the area, Gharib Das, told AFP, adding that two soldiers were injured.

So-called encounters between troops and militants have increased recently in the troubled region, with four suspected rebels killed and another captured during a day-long battle last week.

On Wednesday, government forces killed a militant from the Hizbul Mujahideen group in a battle in Rafiabad area that also left one soldier dead.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th,  2015.