Indian forces end three-day Kashmir battle

Indian forces have taken control after militants took over a government building in Kashmir, killing six people in the gunbattle that followed.

A three-day gunbattle in the disputed region of Kashmir has ended with Indian security forces killing two more militants who stormed a government building, a senior police official says.

The militants captured the five-storey training institute on Saturday, killing six people in the gunbattle that followed.

"The encounter is over. All three militants have been killed," Deputy Inspector General of Police Ghulam Hassan Bhat said. One militant was killed on Sunday.

Muslim separatists have been fighting Indian forces in the Indian portion of Kashmir since 1989.

India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the rebels in the portion it controls and sending them to the Indian side, a claim its neighbour denies.

"This is one of the longest encounters in Kashmir in recent memory," said an army officer, who asked not to be named.

"This is because the building is very big and we have suffered casualties."

The attack began on Saturday when militants shot at a bus carrying police before breaking into the training institute.

More than 100 people were inside at the time.

Three Indian army commandos, two policemen and a civilian died in the fighting.

The latest attack bore similarities to other militant attacks in India where heavily armed, well-trained men have captured buildings and used them to fight security forces.

A similar recent attack on an Indian air base that lasted for four days stalled efforts to revive bilateral talks between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.

India and Pakistan fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part. The third was fought over the founding of Bangladesh.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world