Six militants killed in Kashmir gunfight

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

Six militants were killed in a gunfight on Saturday morning in Tral area in southern Jammu and Kashmir.

Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia confirmed the casualties in a statement. "Weapons and war-like stores have been recovered. The operation is over," the statement read.

According to reports in Indian media, the militants killed in the operation against the banned outfit Ansar Ghazwatul-Hind.

According to reports, one of the slain militants is a senior operative in the group.

Mobile Internet service in the district and rail services in the south of Kashmir were suspended.

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.