Four Police Officers and Two Suspected Militants Killed in Indian-Administered Kashmir | News

The deaths occurred during a gun battle in the forested area of the southern Jammu region.

At least four police officers and two suspected rebels were killed in a gun battle in the India-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian army’s Rising Star Corps announced on social media on Saturday morning that “relentless operations” had resulted in the “elimination of two terrorists” – a term typically used to describe rebels opposing Indian rule in Kashmir.

“We have recovered the bodies of three policemen and have also spotted the body of another officer and two militants lying in the forest,” an official, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, told the Reuters news agency.

Arms and ammunition, including two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, empty shells, and some magazines of assault rifles, were also recovered from the area, the official added.

For decades, rebel groups have clashed with security forces in the region, leading to thousands of deaths. However, violence has decreased in recent years.

According to government data, at least 14 security personnel were killed in such clashes in the first half of 2024, and at least 30 were killed in 2023.

Latest Clashes

The most recent fighting began on Thursday in the forested area near the city of Kathua in the southern Jammu region, close to India’s border with Pakistan. The clash erupted after a police foot patrol was ambushed while searching for fighters, police chief Nalin Prabhat told reporters on Friday night.

The police chief accused the rebels, who were believed to have escaped a security cordon four days earlier, of being from Pakistan, though he did not provide further details.

“We will not rest until we stop such activities by our neighbor,” Prabhat said, referring to Pakistan.

The Muslim-majority Kashmir region has been at the heart of over 70 years of hostility between India and Pakistan, with both nations claiming full control over the territory.

India frequently accuses Pakistan of sending fighters across the heavily militarized unofficial border in Kashmir to attack Indian security forces.

Pakistan, however, denies these allegations, stating that it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.

Rebel groups have been fighting for decades, demanding either independence for Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan.

Since 2019, tensions have escalated in the region after New Delhi revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomy and curbed dissent, civil liberties, and media freedoms, while simultaneously intensifying counterinsurgency operations.

In November last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended the decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s partial autonomy after the territory’s newly elected lawmakers sought its restoration.

“Only the constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar will operate in Kashmir … No power in the world can restore Article 370 (partial autonomy) in Kashmir,” Modi said, referring to one of the founding fathers of the Indian constitution.