Indian security forces kill five militants in Kashmir

Sep 18, 2007, 9:59 GMT

Srinagar, Kashmir - In two separate encounters five suspected militants were killed by security forces during search operations in Indian-administered Kashmir Tuesday.

'Three militants were killed in an encounter during a search operation, carried out by 14 Rashtriya Rifles at Khayyar village in Bandipora area, about 60 kilometres north of Srinagar,' a defence spokesman told news agency PTI.

The identity of the militants is yet to be ascertained.

Two heavily armed militants were killed in another encounter with a joint party of the army and local police in Bandipora. The militants are suspected of belonging to the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group, a police official told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

    On Monday three militants were killed by the Indian army in a foiled infiltration bid near the Line of Control in Kupwara district, about 100 kilometres north-west of Jammu and Kashmir's capital Srinagar.

The Indian army also recovered guns and ammunition after the bid.

Indian security forces in August killed 33 suspected militants in encounters and search operations in Jammu and Kashmir, according to official estimates.

According to state police statistics, 141 militants have infiltrated into the Kashmir valley and 15 in Jammu this year.

More than 50,000 people - civilians, militants and security forces - have been killed in India-administered Kashmir since a violent separatist movement peaked in the late 1980s.

The Himalayan region has been at the heart of tense relations between the South Asian neighbours since independence from British rule in 1947. India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir.