SRINAGAR, March 25: Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) threatened on Wednesday to carry out more attacks in occupied Kashmir after a five-day gunbattle between Indian troops and suspected militants killed at least 25 combatants.

The fighting --- which started on Friday morning when a combined force of Indian army and police began flushing out militants in the area --- was the longest and bloodiest in the disputed region this year, the army said.

Abdullah Ghaznavi, a spokesman for the LeT, said the militants initiated the clash by ambushing an army contingent. The Indian army said on Tuesday night that the gunbattle left 17 militants and eight soldiers dead. Ghaznavi claimed 25 troops were killed and 50 wounded.

There was no independent account of the fighting, which raged in the forested Shamsbari area about 120km north of occupied Srinagar.

“Lashkar-e-Taiba will continue to render sacrifices to free Kashmir from Indian occupation. The
coming days will prove costlier for Indian forces,” Ghaznavi told local newspapers in Srinagar.

“The Indian army has suffered immense loses during the five-day-long gunbattle. This should serve as reminder to India that Kashmir’s freedom struggle is well under way,” he said.—AP
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