Srinagar, India, July 16 (EFE).- An Indian policeman and four army troopers were killed in a prolonged gunfight with militants in a mountainous area of the troubled Himalayan region of Kashmir, officials said on Tuesday.
The deadly exchange of fire between guerrillas and Indian security forces marks the latest surge in the insurgency in the Muslim-majority region, disputed between India and Pakistan for over 75 years.
The gunfight occurred on Monday night in the mountainous Doda district, approximately 200 km south of Srinagar, the main city of the troubled territory.
An officer told EFE that police and the army conducted a joint raid on a suspected militant hideout in Desa of Doda. Doda, along with neighboring districts in the Jammu division of the Kashmir region, has become a new hub of Kashmir’s armed pro-independence movement.
The officer said the security forces had a tip-off about the presence of heavily armed militants hiding in the area.
The army posted on X that soldiers established contact with militants at about 9 p.m. on Monday, “resulting in a heavy firefight” and injuries to several security personnel.
The police officer confirmed to EFE that five of the injured, including a major-ranked army officer and a policeman, succumbed to bullet injuries they sustained in the initial exchange of fire.
This was the second major gunfight to rock the Jammu division of Kashmir in a week.
On July 8, five soldiers were killed in an attack by militants in Kathua district, which also falls in the Jammu division.
The anti-India armed insurgency, which initially centered in the Kashmir Valley, including both urban and rural areas, as well as the Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu, has now found a new base in the Jammu region. This area was largely free of militancy until recently.
In contrast, the Kashmir Valley has experienced relative peace over the past several years.
Following last week’s attack, police said over 50 foreign militants, trained in jungle warfare, might be operating in the Jammu region.
Federal Home Minister Amit Shah urged the army to “utilize its full anti-terrorist capabilities to eliminate the threat in Jammu.”
Following a spurt in incidents of militant attacks and reports about the movement of guerrillas from different places security forces have launched massive combing and search operations in various parts of the Jammu division.
The idyllic Himalayan region, disputed between India and Pakistan, was placed under the direct federal rule after its semi-autonomous status was abolished on August 5, 2019.
Both countries claim the region in its entirety and have fought wars over it.
An armed anti-India rebellion has been ongoing in the Indian side since 1989 and has claimed thousands of lives, mostly civilians.
India has been accusing Pakistan of supporting and infiltrating militants into Kashmir, however, Islamabad consistently denies the allegations. EFE
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