11 killed as Indian forces battle ‘militants’

Eleven people, including a soldier, died in clashes between troops and suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir, BBC reports quoting the Indian army yesterday. Security forces said 10 men were killed in an area close to an army base that wasattacked on Sunday. Fighting broke out in two different locations along the Line of Control, the disputed de facto border with Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It comes after 10 weeks of protests in which almost 90 spokesman Lt-Col Rajesh Kalia said soldiers intercepted two large groups of suspected rebels who had entered an Indian-administered area of Kashmir.
Defence sources said the infiltrating militants were killed in an ongoing operation on the Line of Control (LoC) in Lachipora area in Uri sector where a group of 15 heavily armed militants tried to enter the Indian side, allegedly during a ceasefire violation by the Pakistan army.
"When challenged, the group of heavily armed militants fired at the security forces, triggering an encounter in which one army soldier was critically injured,” a police source said. The latest infiltration bid comes as New Delhi and Islamabad are locked in a bitter diplomatic war of words following the Uri terror attack, which India has blamed on militants from Pakistan. Pakistan has denied the allegations.

11 killed as Indian forces battle militants

Eleven people, including a soldier, died in clashes between troops and suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir, BBC reports quoting the Indian army yesterday. Security forces said 10 men were killed in an area close to an army base that wasattacked on Sunday. Fighting broke out in two different locations along the Line of Control, the disputed de facto border with Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It comes after 10 weeks of protests in which almost 90 spokesman Lt-Col Rajesh Kalia said soldiers intercepted two large groups of suspected rebels who had entered an Indian-administered area of Kashmir. Defence sources said the infiltrating militants were killed in an ongoing operation on the Line of Control (LoC) in Lachipora area in Uri sector where a group of 15 heavily armed militants tried to enter the Indian side, allegedly during a ceasefire violation by the Pakistan army. When challenged, the group of heavily armed militants fired at the security forces, triggering an encounter in which one army soldier was critically injured, a police source said. The latest infiltration bid comes as New Delhi and Islamabad are locked in a bitter diplomatic war of words following the Uri terror attack, which India has blamed on militants from Pakistan. Pakistan has denied the allegations.