SRINAGAR: The Indian army called off a two-week operation to hunt down suspected militants in disputed Kashmir on Tuesday after a series of gunbattles in which at least eight fighters were killed.

“I have given directions to call off the concerted search operation,” Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra, a senior commander, told reporters after a visit to the Line of Control (LoC).

The general said that 59 heavy weapons had been recovered from the Keran area of India-held Kashmir, along with a large amount of ammunition and rations.

Markings on the weapons indicated the militants had received help from the Pakistani army for their ‘infiltration operation’, Gen Chachra alleged.

“It could not be possible without their support,” the general added at a press conference in Srinagar.

Last week, another senior commander claimed 12 militants were killed in a gunfight near an abandoned village in the densely-forested area, but Gen Chachra said only eight bodies had been recovered from the scene.

“No other bodies have been found,” he said.

The Indian army says there is a long-established pattern of increased infiltration attempts from the Pakistani side of the LoC before heavy snows close the Himalayan passes.

Gen Chachra also denied that the militants had at any point occupied any forward posts or taken over any India-controlled territory in Keran.—AFP