3 Indian soldiers, 2 Kashmiri fighters killed in shoot-out
SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – Three Indian soldiers and two freedom fighters were killed in a gunfight in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
Two more soldiers were injured in the early morning shootout in the Rajouri district, according to the Indian military.
The army’s 16 Corps said on Twitter that two freedom fighters tried to “sneak into a post in the dark at Pargal,” some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the district headquarters.
The three soldiers killed were identified as Rajendra Prasad, Lakshmanan D, and Manoj Kumar.
The incident came after three freedom fighters were killed in a daylong gunfight in Kashmir’s Budgam district on Wednesday.
Police said the deceased include Lateef Rather alias Abdullah, a commander of The Resistance Front (TRF), which Indian authorities maintain is an offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Police said Lateef was involved in a June 2013 attack on an army convoy that killed eight soldiers.
They said he started working for TRF after being released from jail in November 2021.
Kashmir has been ruled directly by New Delhi through a lieutenant governor since Aug. 5, 2019, when the Indian government unilaterally scrapped the semi-autonomous status of the disputed Muslim-majority region.
Local pro-India politicians, such as former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah, maintain that Kashmiris were politically disempowered by the move, while the Indian government claims it has led to a decline in the level of violence.
Vijay Kumar, a top police official in the region, said last week that about 500 freedom fighters have been killed since Aug. 5, 2019, along with 110 security personnel and 110 civilians.
Disputed region
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
Kashmiris have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
According to several human rights organizations, tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict since 1989.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
