SRINAGAR: Suspected militants in India-held Kashmir killed on Tuesday an army colonel and a police officer during a gunfight near Srinagar, police said.

Another police officer later died of injuries sustained in the clash, while two suspected militants were also killed during the encounter, an officer said.

Indian forces had laid siege to a house in Hundoora village, 50km south of Srinagar, acting on information that a militant was inside, the officer said.

The colonel, the highest ranking military officer to die in fighting in the Himalayan region in more than a year, was leading the operation.

“He (the militant) opened fire as he found himself trapped. During the ensuing gunbattle two ‘terrorists’ and an army colonel were killed,” the top police officer said.

The battle occurred shortly after US President Barack Obama left India after a three-day visit to New Delhi.
Security had been high in the disputed region and India’s other restive areas during the visit, and for Republic Day on Monday.

Kashmiri militant groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 for independence or merger of the territory with Pakistan. The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play