4 Indian troops killed in IHK clashes

SRINAGAR: Indian occupational troops fought a gun battle with Kashmir freedom fighters Tuesday after a car bomb attack and other clashes left four Indian soldiers and three freedom fighters dead in 24 hours, military officials said.

A soldier and two suspected freedom fighters were killed in the latest shoot out in the Anantnag area of Indian occupied Kashmir, army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said in a statement.

Another two soldiers were killed and many more wounded when a car bomb hit an Indian military truck late Monday in Pulwama district, the statement added. Kalia called the car bomb "a failed attempt" to hit an Indian patrol, but gave no other details.

However, a senior police officer speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that at least 12 soldiers were wounded in the blast and taken to a military hospital in Kashmir´s main city, Srinagar. Hours before the car bombing, a clash between freedom fighters and Indian occupational forces left one soldier and one fighter dead, according to Kalia.

Southern Kashmir has seen intense fighting over the past three years between Indian occupational forces and freedom fighters, who are demanding independence for the Himalayan region or a merger with Pakistan. More then 100 civilians have been martyred in Indian occupied Kashmir this year in clashes.

India has about 700,000 troops in held Kashmir, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly said they have a "free hand" to eradicate freedom fighters in the held valley. But the Kashmir public has also taken a more radical stance, with local residents increasingly trying to help besieged fighters escape military cordons.