SRINAGAR: Three Indian soldiers died when unidentified men ambu­shed an army vehicle on Thursday. Two civilian porters also died in the ambush.

The Indian army confirmed a brief exchange of fire with “terrorists” in the vicinity of Gulmarg, near the Line of Control.

Another soldier wounded in the attack died at a military hospital on Friday.

Their bodies were handed to their families for last rites, an official said.

Occupied Kashmir’s governor Manoj Sinha joined top army officers to lay floral wreaths on three coffins wrapped in the Indian flag to pay tribute to the dead soldiers at the military headquarters in Srinagar.

India has a permanent deployment of about 500,000 soldiers in the occupied territory.

Thursday’s clash comes days after unknown men killed seven workers inside a labour camp near the construction site of a strategic tunnel connecting held Kashmir with Ladakh.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the recent attacks were “a matter of serious concern”.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2024