SRINAGAR: The Indian army said it raided a militant hideout and killed five suspected insurgents in a gunbattle in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
Army spokesman Col. Brijesh Pandey said the army suffered no casualties during fighting Monday in Ganderbal region, nearly 30 miles north of Srinagar, the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir.
Several rebel groups are fighting Indian rule. None have issued statements on the incident and the army’s account could not be independently verified.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. Since 1989, a separatist insurgency and a subsequent crackdown by Indian forces have killed an estimated 68,000 people in Kashmir, mostly civilians. Although the armed rebellion is largely suppressed, resentment against Indian rule runs deep.
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