5 killed in latest bloodshed in Kashmir
AFP
SRINAGAR: Two soldiers and three rebels were killed in an overnight gunbattle in Kashmir, officials said Sunday, in the latest bloodshed in the disputed Himalayan territory, reports AFP.
Hundreds of Indian soldiers and counter-insurgency forces surrounded Awneera, a village about 50 kilometres (32 miles) south of the main city of Srinagar, on Saturday evening following a tip-off about armed militants in the area.
A fierce firefight broke out in which three militants and two soldiers were killed, army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia told AFP.
A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militants were identified as locals.
As news of their death spread, hundreds of residents from neighbouring villages took to the streets in protest, throwing stones at soldiers and chanting slogans against Indian rule.
In a separate incident early Sunday rebels fired at an army convoy in the northern are of Hajin and injured two police officers and a soldier, the same police officer said.
