5 Indian soldiers killed in blast during gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir

ANKARA (AA) – Five Indian military personnel were killed in a blast during a gunfight with freedom fighters in the Jammu and Kashmir region, the Indian army said on Friday.

An official statement by the Indian military said the army has been conducting “relentless intelligence-based operations to flush out a group of terrorists” involved in an ambush on an army truck in the Tota Gali area of Bhata Dhurian in the Jammu region.

Last month, the army said that in the Rajouri sector of the Jammu region, five Indian soldiers were killed and another was injured in a militant attack.

Friday’s statement said that according to specific information “about the presence of terrorists” in the Kandi Forest in Rajouri, a joint operation was launched on Wednesday.

“At about 0730 hours (0200GMT) on 05 May 2023, a search team established contact with a group of terrorists well entrenched in a cave. The area is thickly vegetated with rocky and steep cliffs,” the Indian military said, adding that the fighters “triggered an explosive device in retaliation.”

The statement said the army team “has suffered two fatal casualties with injuries to four more soldiers, including an officer.”

Later in the afternoon, the army in an update said, three soldiers “who were critically injured in the morning have unfortunately succumbed to their injuries.”

Additional teams from the vicinity have been directed to the site of the encounter, the military also said. “The operation is in progress.”

Disputed region

Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of the region is also controlled by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965, and 1971 – two of them over Kashmir.

Kashmiris have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights groups, close to 100,000 people have been killed by the Indian forces since 1989.