Indian forces have killed eight freedom fighters in Indian-administered Kashmir, including two who were busy in worship in a mosque, officials said, as New Delhi escalates operations against rebels in the disputed territory during a coronavirus lockdown.
Police and army teams launched joint operations in the Shopian and Pampore areas of the federal territory on Thursday after they received intelligence about the presence of the rebels.
Five were killed in Shopian and three in Pampore in the 24 hours until Friday morning, Indian army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said, adding that the operations were continuing.
On Friday morning, security forces in Pampore used "tear-smoke shells" to force two fighters out of a mosque, where they had taken refuge, senior police officer Vijay Kumar said on Twitter, adding that the two were killed by forces while maintaining the sanctity of the religious place.
There were no immediate independent accounts of the incident.
We have neutralised eight terrorists in two different operations: GOC 15 Corps Lt Gen Baggavalli Somashekar Raju on encounters in Pampore's Meej & Shopian's Munand in Jammu and Kashmir
The new fatalities following gun battles on Thursday and Friday took the death toll of Kashmir rebels to more than 100 this year, officials said.
Indian security forces have killed more than two dozen fighters, including six top commanders, in the past two weeks as they battle a decades-old separatist uprising in Indian-administered Kashmir that has cost tens of thousands of mainly civilian lives since the 1980s.
But anger in the Muslim-majority region intensified last year after New Delhi scrapped the partial autonomy of the former Jammu and Kashmir state, dividing it into two federally-controlled territories.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan since the two nations became independent and split in 1947.
Both claim the region in its entirety, which has been the cause of two full-scale wars between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.
India accuses Pakistan of supporting the Kashmiri fighters, a charge Islamabad denies, calling them freedom fighters.
In recent weeks, the two nations have exchanged heavy artillery fire along the Line of Control (LoC) - the highly-militarised de facto border dividing Kashmir. Indian forces killed eight Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), including two who hid in a mosque, officials said Friday, as New Delhi escalates counter-insurgency efforts in the territory.The new fatalities following gun battles on Thursday and Friday take the death toll of Kashmiris over 100 this year, officials said. One gun battle at Neej, near Srinagar, led to the death of one Kashmiri and a night-long standoff with two others who hid inside a mosque, officials said.
Security forces used "tear smoke shells" on the mosque and later "neutralised" the two inside, Kashmir´s inspector general of police Vijay Kumar said in a Twitter statement.
There were no immediate independent accounts of the incident. Security forces also killed five Kashmiris who hid in an underground shelter in an apple orchard in Shopian district, security officials said. The shootouts have also sparked clashes between government forces and villagers.
Police and army teams launched joint operations in the Shopian and Pampore areas of the federal territory on Thursday after they received intelligence about the presence of the rebels.
Five were killed in Shopian and three in Pampore in the 24 hours until Friday morning, Indian army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said, adding that the operations were continuing.
On Friday morning, security forces in Pampore used "tear-smoke shells" to force two fighters out of a mosque, where they had taken refuge, senior police officer Vijay Kumar said on Twitter, adding that the two were killed by forces while maintaining the sanctity of the religious place.
There were no immediate independent accounts of the incident.
We have neutralised eight terrorists in two different operations: GOC 15 Corps Lt Gen Baggavalli Somashekar Raju on encounters in Pampore's Meej & Shopian's Munand in Jammu and Kashmir
The new fatalities following gun battles on Thursday and Friday took the death toll of Kashmir rebels to more than 100 this year, officials said.
Indian security forces have killed more than two dozen fighters, including six top commanders, in the past two weeks as they battle a decades-old separatist uprising in Indian-administered Kashmir that has cost tens of thousands of mainly civilian lives since the 1980s.
But anger in the Muslim-majority region intensified last year after New Delhi scrapped the partial autonomy of the former Jammu and Kashmir state, dividing it into two federally-controlled territories.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan since the two nations became independent and split in 1947.
Both claim the region in its entirety, which has been the cause of two full-scale wars between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.
India accuses Pakistan of supporting the Kashmiri fighters, a charge Islamabad denies, calling them freedom fighters.
In recent weeks, the two nations have exchanged heavy artillery fire along the Line of Control (LoC) - the highly-militarised de facto border dividing Kashmir. Indian forces killed eight Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), including two who hid in a mosque, officials said Friday, as New Delhi escalates counter-insurgency efforts in the territory.The new fatalities following gun battles on Thursday and Friday take the death toll of Kashmiris over 100 this year, officials said. One gun battle at Neej, near Srinagar, led to the death of one Kashmiri and a night-long standoff with two others who hid inside a mosque, officials said.
Security forces used "tear smoke shells" on the mosque and later "neutralised" the two inside, Kashmir´s inspector general of police Vijay Kumar said in a Twitter statement.
There were no immediate independent accounts of the incident. Security forces also killed five Kashmiris who hid in an underground shelter in an apple orchard in Shopian district, security officials said. The shootouts have also sparked clashes between government forces and villagers.
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Kashmir
