SRINAGAR: Indian forces in Kashmir killed two fighters on Wednesday, including one who was suspected of killing a bank manager earlier this month, according to police, as part of a stepped-up military operation that has sparked a migration of people from the disputed Muslim-majority region.
Since the late 1980s, India has been fighting a freedom movement in Kashmir. Pakistan also claims the region where its nuclear-armed neighbours fought two of their three wars.
“Indian troops killed two militants in a shootout this morning; one of them, Jan Mohammad Lone, was involved in the killing of a bank manager,” said Kashmir Police Chief Vijay Kumar.
This month, troops broke into an Ellaquai Dehati Bank branch in Kulgam town and killed the manager, who was from the desert state of Rajasthan and had only been posted to the branch four days before.
The Kashmir Freedom Fighters, a little-known militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack and warned outsiders not to settle in the Kashmir Valley.
This year, at least 16 people, both Hindus and Muslims, have been killed in direct attacks in Kashmir.
Kumar stated that troops were tracking down fighters and had killed eight people involved in recent killings.
According to him, at least 104 fighters have been killed in Kashmir this year, more than raising the number killed in the same period last year.
Parts of the Himalayan region are ruled by India and Pakistan.
India accuses Pakistan of trying to support the insurgents, but Pakistan denies this, claiming that it only provides political support to fellow Muslims who are being victimised by Indian security forces.
India rejects Pakistan’s claims of human rights violations in Kashmir.
As a result of the killings, scores of Hindu families have fled Kashmir in recent days, including some from the minority Kashmiri Pandit community.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the region’s top government official, has attempted to confirm Kashmiri Pandits of security measures.
