Srinagar : At least five Indian soldiers and two militants were killed on Monday in a series of gun battles in Indian Kashmir, where security forces have stepped up operations after several civilian killings last week, officials said.
In the deadliest incident for the country’s security forces in the Himalayan region this year, a military official said five soldiers died after a shootout with suspected militants near the border with Pakistan.
“They were moved to a nearby medical facility but succumbed to their injuries,” spokesman Lt. Col. Davinder Anand said.
Claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but only controlled in parts by the neighboring countries, Kashmir has been the site of a bloody insurrection against New Delhi since the 1990s.
India says Pakistan supports the militancy in Kashmir. Islamabad denies this, saying it only provides diplomatic and moral support to the Kashmiri people.
The Muslim-majority region has been on the edge since the killing of three Hindus and a Sikh by suspected militants last week which triggered a crackdown by Indian authorities.
