Five Indian officers killed in IIOJ&K

IIOJ&K police say their force had surrounded two men who belonged to a militant group

By AFP
|
September 15, 2023
An Indian military personnel stands in the middle of a road amid a curfew days after the abrogation of Article 370 in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir (IIOJK). — AFP/File

SRINAGAR: Five Indian officers and two suspected fighters were killed in separate gun battles this week in Indian-held Kashmir, with clashes ongoing, officials in the disputed region said Thursday.

On Wednesday, two Indian Army officers and a senior policeman carrying out a security sweep in a forested area of the southern Kashmir valley were ambushed and killed, with the two suspected gunmen holed up and firing at soldiers encircling their position.

IIOJ&K police said their force had surrounded two men who belonged to a militant group. “Our forces persist with unwavering resolve,” police posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Four people were killed on Tuesday, an Indian soldier, a police officer and two suspected fighters, during a prolonged firefight in the mountainous Rajouri area.

Gunmen first shot dead an army sniffer dog that had led the soldiers to the fighters. The deaths are the latest in the troubled Muslim-majority region.