Indian troops kill three Kashmir infiltrators

INDIA: Indian troops shot dead three suspected Islamic militants during a gunbattle along the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan, the army said Sunday.

The three were killed overnight during a “fierce encounter” in TRajouri district, about 430 kilometres (270 miles) south of Srinagar, an army statement said.

The militants were asked to surrender after they infiltrated into Indian Kashmir “but they instead chose to fight,” the army said.

India’s top security officials urged their Pakistani counterparts last week to put a stop to ceasefire violations along their shared border in the disputed Kashmir region. Muslim-majority Kashmir has been in the grip of an insurgency against Indian rule since 1989.

Srinagar, Sunday, AFP