New Delhi, Nov. 19, (dpa/GNA) – Four suspected militants were killed in a gunbattle with security forces on a highway in India’s Jammu and Kashmir region early Thursday, officials said.
A policeman sustained injuries during the clash that took place in the Nagrota area near Jammu, one of the main cities in the Himalayan region.
The gunbattle erupted at 4.20 am (2250 GMT Wednesday) after the truck in which the insurgents were travelling was intercepted by security personnel near a toll plaza, paramilitary force spokesman Moses Dinakaran said.
“Four militants have been neutralized and one police constable injured in an encounter at Ban Toll plaza, Jammu, with police, CRPF and army,” senior police official Mukesh Singh said on Twitter.
Security forces recovered 11 automatic rifles, 3 pistols and 29 grenades from the rebels.
Police told domestic media that the militants from the Jaish-e-Mohammad group had infiltrated from Pakistan-administered Kashmir and were headed to the Kashmir valley to carry out a “big attack”.
Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan both claim the Kashmir region in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.
India routinely accuses Pakistan of aiding militants and helping them cross the border to carry out attacks in India-administered Kashmir.
Islamabad denies the charges and describes the militants as freedom fighters.
India-administered Kashmir has seen a deadly secessionist movement since the 1980s in which more than 45,000 people – civilians, security personnel and militants – have been killed.
GNA