SRINAGAR: At least three Kashmiri people and an Indian Army commando were killed on Tuesday in two separate clashes in the India-held Kashmir (IHK) following a surge in fighting between the armed forces and Kashmiri fighters, local officials and police said.
Senior police officer Muneer Ahmed Khan said that fighting erupted in the northwestern area of Handwara after Indian troops launched a ‘counter-insurgency’ operation and killed three people there. In Kupwara area, a special forces soldier was killed in a continuing gun-battle, the police said.
The police official said that the Indian forces were battling a few ‘militants’ trapped in the area. There was no independent confirmation of the two clashes, the latest in a string of deadly shootouts between Indian forces and the local fighters in the disputed state.
At least eight Kashmiri people, an Indian air force commando, and a policeman have been killed in the last two days. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the disputed state, and most people support the Hurriyat’s cause while also participating in street protests against India.
