Indian soldier killed in Kashmir battle with militants

NEW DELHI: An Indian soldier was killed Thursday during heavy clashes with militants in Indian-administrated Kashmir, the army said, reporting that a “fierce gunfight” was ongoing.

The soldier had “sustained grievous injuries in the exchange of fire” and had died “despite best medical efforts”, the Indian army’s White Knight Corps said.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the territory in full.

The army said earlier on Thursday it was carrying out operations with police to “neutralize the terrorists” and that reinforcements had been called in.

The clashes in Kishtwar, around 125 kilometres (80 miles) southeast of the key city Srinagar, come a month after the deadly April 22 attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir, which sent relations between India and Pakistan spiralling towards a war.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the Islamist militants it said were behind the killing of 26 men in the deadliest attack on civilians in Muslim-majority Kashmir in decades. Pakistan denies the charge.

India then launched strikes deep into Pakistan’s territory on May 7, triggering four days of intense drone, missile, aerial combat and artillery exchanges.

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More than 70 people were killed on both sides, the worst conflict since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10.

The violence in Indian-run Kashmir is not the first since the ceasefire, with three suspected rebels killed in a gun battle on May 13.