SRINAGAR, Oct 3: A fierce gunbattle between Indian troops and militants high in the Himalayas in occupied Kashmir has ended after a week, killing 14 people, the army said on Friday.

A soldier and 13 militants were killed in the fighting, the longest battle in recent years, and Indian forces said they had begun mop-up operations after the firing stopped on Thursday.

“The operation is being conducted in inhospitable, harsh and treacherous terrain at an altitude up to 15,000 feet,” an army statement said.

The gunbattle began last Thursday in the Kagnan area, north of Srinagar.

The army said that militants had been retreating to the Himalayan plains due to the early onset of cold weather in the mountains and clashes between Indian soldiers and militants fleeing their hideouts had intensified.

In a separate incident on Friday, Indian forces shot dead two members of Lashkar-i-Taiba.

Police alleged that another militant was killed on Thursday night when troops fired at a group of ‘infiltrators’ who tried to slip into occupied Kashmir from the Pakistani side.

Earlier on Wednesday, Eid prayers in Srinagar turned into noisy demonstrations against Indian occupation. Thousands of Muslims, including women and children, chanted “we want freedom” after they gathered in Srinagar to offer Eid prayers.

Hundreds of riot police were deployed across Srinagar, witnesses said.

“We will take the ongoing freedom struggle to its logical conclusion,” Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik told worshippers.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads occupied Kashmir’s moderate group, used the festivities to send a stern message to New Delhi.

“India is using its might to crush our movement but it will not succeed,” said the mirwaiz.

—Agencies