SRINAGAR: Five Indian soldiers were killed in held Kashmir on Friday, with the army blaming the deaths on an explosive device triggered by fighters in the disputed territory.

The Indian army has been conducting search operations in Rajouri district near the Line of Control since last month to hunt fighters it blamed for an attack on an army truck that killed five troops.

In a statement, the Indian army claimed a search team “established contact with a group of terrorists well entrenched in a cave” in an area “thickly vegetated with rocky and steep cliffs”.

The suspects then triggered an explosive device that killed two soldiers and injured four others, three of whom later succumbed to their injuries, it said.

AFP could not independently verify the incident.

Anger against Indian rule in occupied Kashmir has grown since 2019 when New Delhi cancelled the region’s partial autonomy.

Since 1989, Kashmiri groups have fought about 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the India-held territory, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Tens of thousands of Kashmiri people and Indian soldiers have been killed so far.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2023