Roundup: 7 killed in gunfight between troops, militants in Kashmir

Seven people including five militants were killed and two troopers wounded Saturday in a fierce gunfight in the restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

The gunfight broke out Friday at Chowkibal in frontier district of Kupwara, close to the Line of Control (LoC), 125 km northwest of Srinagar city, summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"The troops today killed five militants in an overnight gunfight in Kupwara," Indian military spokesman Col. N N Joshi said.

"The army also lost two of its gallant soldiers who were leading scouts and despite bearing the brunt of the initial volley of fire, stood their ground for each other and the rest of the search team thus facilitating elimination of all five militants."

The two troopers, who were wounded fighting militants have been evacuated to hospital and were said to be stable.

According to Joshi, the operation was jointly carried out by army and police after receiving specific intelligence inputs about presence of militants in the area.

Officials said they have recovered five assault rifles and a huge quantity of ammunition from the gunfight site.

The identity of slain militants and their group affiliation was not immediately known. Police officials said they were yet to start the identification process.

A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989. The gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently across the region.

Last week, three militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit, were killed.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two of which were exclusively over Kashmir. Endit