20 November 2018•Update: 20 November 2018
By Zahid Rafiq
SRINAGAR, Jammu Kashmir
Four militants and an Indian army soldier were killed, while other three soldiers sustained injuries in a gun battle in the south of Kashmir on Tuesday, police said.
“On a credible input about the presence of militants in area of District Shopian, our forces launched a cordon and search operation today,” police spokesman Manoj Pandita told media.
Pandita said that the army soldier was killed in the initial exchange of gunfire.
“In the ensuing gun battle, four militants were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the gunfight,” Pandita added.
All the four have been identified as local Kashmiris.
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.
