4 Indian forces, 1 civilian killed in Kashmir: Police

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

Four personnel of Indian armed forces were killed in a gun battle with militants on Friday in Kashmir’s north, police said.

“Two police personnel, two CRPF [paramilitary] personnel and a civilian sustained critical injuries and later succumbed to their wounds,” the police said in a statement.

The police identified the slain civilian as 21-year-old Wasim Ahmad Mir, who they said, was killed by a bullet injury in a nearby area.

They did not confirm any casualties of the militants and said that the gunfight was still on.

Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.