Indian soldier and suspected militant killed in Kashmir

The soldier was the 10th to be killed in the area this month following several deadly militant attacks in a southern, Hindu-dominated part of the otherwise majority-Muslim region.

He died after a clash with a group of militants who tried to cross the Line of Control from the Pakistani side in Poonch early Tuesday morning, the Indian military’s White Knight Corps said in a post on social media platform X.

The army expressed its “deepest condolences” to the family of the killed soldier.

The next morning, Indian troops killed a suspected insurgent in a separate clash near the border at Kupwara after observing “suspicious movements,” the army said in a statement published on X.

“In the ensuing firefight, one terrorist was eliminated,” the army said in a statement.

In recent months, suspected rebels have carried out a series of attacks on Indian soldiers in Kashmir.

The Indian military has deployed hundreds of special forces, drones, helicopters and sniffer dogs in the south of the region to hunt militants in dense forests and remote caves.

In response to the attacks, work has begun on setting up new posts and camps.

Last week, five Indian soldiers were killed in a militant attack in a forest, following another attack near the border a few days earlier in which four soldiers were killed.

Nine Indian Hindu pilgrims were killed and dozens more injured in June when a gunman opened fire on a bus carrying them from a shrine in Reasi district.

Since 1989, rebel groups demanding Kashmir’s independence or unification with Pakistan have been fighting against Indian soldiers.

Tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels fell victim to the conflict.

India and Pakistan accuse each other of using violence and espionage to undermine their own position. In addition, the two nuclear powers are engaged in numerous conflicts over control of the region.

pzb/gle/mtp