Indian police kill 4 Kashmiris in Jammu

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – Police killed four Kashmiris in the Jammu province of the Indian-occupied Kashmir region on Wednesday.

Additional director general of police (Jammu), Mukesh Singh, told reporters that the police followed a truck moving in “an unusual manner” on a key highway in Jammu and followed it for a distance before signaling the driver to stop.

“The driver came down and fled from the spot on the pretext of answering nature’s call. Meanwhile, the policemen that were searching the truck came under fire and returned the fire,” Singh said. During the shootout, the truck caught fire, he said, adding that four suspected “militants” were killed.

Seven AK-47 rifles and ammunition were recovered from the deceased, Singh claimed and added that the driver and the owner of the truck were yet to be identified.

Gunfights between Indian forces and Kashmiris are rare in the Hindu-majority Jammu province, compared to the Kashmir Valley, which has been the epicenter of a freedom movement since 1990.

On Dec. 7, India’s Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told Indian Parliament that a total of 123 militancy incidents were recorded till November 2022 in the Muslim-majority region, which was stripped of its autonomy on Aug 5, 2019.

Freedom movement 

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.

Various Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir 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 by the Indian forces since 1989.