Two Indian soldiers were killed when their base in Rajouri, Indian-administered Kashmir was attacked by two men who reportedly detonated suicide vests on Thursday.
The contested Jammu and Kashmir region, which lies north of the Indian border, has faced an insurgency that began in 1989, involving different Kashmiri groups pushing for complete independence from India or indoctrinating followers with extremist beliefs.
The White Knights Corps, an Indian army unit based in Jammu and Kashmir, said the two attackers “were detected and engaged by alert troops. The terrorists have been neutralised”.
Five soldiers were wounded and were being treated, the army unit said. The army later clarified that there had been fatalities.
"Three soldiers were killed while two are undergoing treatment. They are stable," Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu told The National.
India and Pakistan have fought three conflicts over Kashmir since 1947, with tens of thousands of people left dead. Pakistan administers the western part of the mountainous region, known as Azad Kashmir. To the east, China also administers a small part of the territory known as Aksai Chin.
Instability has increased in recent years after the government of Narendra Modi sought to directly control the southern part of the disputed territory in 2019.
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Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Srinagar to protest against the sentencing of Yasin Malik on Wednesday. AFP -
Protesters clash with Indian police during a protest against the sentencing of Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. EPA -
Malik, the former militant commander-turned-pro-independence politician, was given two life sentences, four 10-year jail terms and one five-year sentence, all to be served concurrently. Reuters -
He was convicted of participating in and funding terrorist acts and involvement in criminal conspiracy. Reuters -
Several parts of Srinagar in Kashmir were locked down, after sporadic street clashes between Malik's supporters and government troops erupted when news of the sentencing broke. EPA -
Police escort pro-independence party Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik to Patiala house court in New Delhi, where he was sentenced. AFP
Over the years, militant groups have sought to disrupt India's attempt to administer southern Kashmir through suicide attacks and by edging out organisations with limited political goals, including the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.
