India’s military says it killed 3 militants in a gunfight in disputed Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Three suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the Indian military said Tuesday.

It is the first reported gunbattle between Indian troops and militants in the region since last month’s massacre that left 26 tourists dead, and which India has blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad has denied the charge.

India’s military said in a statement soldiers acting on a tip carried out a “search and destroy” operation in the Keller area of the southern Shopian district early Tuesday, during which militants “opened heavy fire and a fierce firefight ensued,” it said.

The army hasn’t provided further details or casualties among soldiers, but stated that soldiers continued their search operation.

The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the incident.

The Himalayan territory is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

Before the April 22 gun massacre in the Kashmiri resort town of Pahalgam, the fighting had largely ebbed in the region’s Kashmir Valley, the heartland of anti-India rebellion and mainly shifted to mountainous areas of Jammu in the last few years.

The massacre spiked tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals last week, leading to the worst military confrontation in decades and the death of dozens of people until a ceasefire was reached on May 10 after U.S mediation.

Since 2019, the territory has simmered in anger when New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations.