SRINAGAR: Security personnel in India-held Kashmir claimed killing at least three suspected militants in two gun battles and said that an army commando was also killed in the fighting.

Fighting erupted in the northwestern area of Hand­wara after Indian troops launched an operation and killed three militants there, said Muneer Ahmed Khan, a senior police officer.

In another operation in the neighbouring Kupwara area, a special forces soldier was killed in a continuing gun battle. Khan said government forces were battling a few militants trapped in the area.

There was, however, no independent confirmation of the two clashes.

According to authorities in the disputed Himalayan region, at least eight militants, two Indian commandos and a policeman have been killed in the past few days.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the region, and most people support the militants’ cause while also participating in street protests against Indian rule.

Nearly 70,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2017