5 killed in Kashmir gunfight

SRINAGAR // Two suspected militants from Pakistan and three Indian troops were killed yesterday during a gun battle in the Indian zone of Kashmir.

The fighting took place in the Nowgam sector, 100 kilometres from the summer capital Srinagar, as the rebels tried to cross into the Indian side.

"An infiltration bid was foiled by troops on the Line of Control, killing two militants, but three soldiers were also killed," said Colonel A Vashisht, referring to the de facto border that divides the Himalayan region.

In another encounter, late on Tuesday, police claimed to have shot dead a commander of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) during a gunfight in south Kashmir.

"A most-wanted militant commander affiliated with LeT was killed by a joint search party of the police and army," said a police spokesman.

Separatist violence in the region had declined sharply since India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004 but occasional gunfights erupt between militants and the security forces.