Indian forces in Kashmir kill militants suspected of targeted shooting, part of increased counter-insurgency effort
- It’s believed they were Kashmir Freedom Fighters who claim responsibility for shooting a bank manager – they warn outsiders not to settle in the Kashmir Valley
- At least 16 people – both Hindu and Muslims – have been killed in targeted attacks in Kashmir this year
Indian forces in Kashmir killed two militants on Wednesday, one them suspected of gunning down a bank manager this month, police said, part of a stepped-up counter-insurgency effort that has triggered an exodus from the Muslim-majority region.
India has been fighting an Islamist separatist insurgency in Kashmir since the late 1980s. Muslim Pakistan also claims the region over which the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars.
“Indian troops killed two militants this morning in a gun battle, one of them, Jan Mohammad Lone, was involved in the killing of a bank manager,” said Vijay Kumar, the police chief of Kashmir.
Militants entered a branch of the Ellaquai Dehati Bank in Kulgam town this month and killed the manager, who came from the desert state of Rajasthan, and had only been posted to the branch four days earlier.
A little-known militant group called the Kashmir Freedom Fighters claimed responsibility for the attack, warning outsiders not to settle in the Kashmir Valley.
At least 16 people – both Hindu and Muslims – have been killed in targeted attacks in Kashmir this year. Kumar said troops were tracking militants and had killed eight involved in killings in recent weeks. At least 104 militants have been killed in Kashmir this year, double the toll in the same period last year, he said.