Indian troops kill 2 rebels in Kashmir in ongoing operations

Officials said Indian soldiers killed two suspected terrorists in Kashmir counterterrorism operations on Saturday, a day after insurgents murdered five soldiers in the Himalayan region.

An Indian army statement stated joint army, paramilitary, and police units “spotted and pinned down” the militants before killing one in a southern Rajouri forest. Soldiers found an automatic gun, ammunition, and grenades, and another militant was “likely to be injured.”

No one verified the occurrence.

Police claimed government soldiers killed another insurgent in a western Kunzer gunfight on Saturday.

The Indian army claimed rebels detonated an explosive device during a confrontation on Friday, killing five soldiers. The army said that battle began as soldiers tracked a gang of terrorists engaged in an April 20 ambush on an army vehicle that killed five Indian soldiers in the same region.

The violence comes ahead of a conference of officials from the Group of 20 top industrialized and developing nations on encouraging tourism in Kashmir later this month.
After a months-long security and communications lockdown in 2019, India assumed direct control of Kashmir and held its first major foreign event. New rules that critics and many Kashmiris worry could change the region’s demographics have placed Kashmir on edge.

Since 1989, Kashmiri rebels have sought independence from India or union with Pakistan.

Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of unifying the territory under Pakistani or independent government.

India claims Pakistan sponsors Kashmir militancy. Pakistan and most Kashmiris deny the claim.

Conflict has killed tens of thousands of civilians, insurgents, and government forces.