3 Militants Killed In Kashmir, Tally Up To 11 In Year's 1St Week

Three militants were gunned down in an overnight operation in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Friday.

Just a week into the new year, 11 Kashmiri militants have now been killed by Indian forces in the disputed Himalayan region.

A police statement said three members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant group were shot dead in an operation in Chadoora, a town in the central Budgam district.

Three assault rifles and other "incriminating materials" were recovered from their possession, it added.

One of the militants killed was identified as Waseem, a resident of the capital Srinagar.

Earlier on Wednesday, police claimed to have killed three JeM militants in the southern Pulwama district, one of the four areas in Kashmir at the forefront of a new and intensified wave of militancy over the past decade.

That came a day after two militants of The Resistance Front (TRF), both young Kashmiri men, were shot dead by Indian forces in the neighboring Kulgam district.

Indian authorities believe TRF is another front for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

On Jan. 3, two militants – one of them a Pakistani national – were gunned down at two separate places in Srinagar.

Police accused the Pakistani national of being involved in a fatal attack on two cops in the northern Bandipora district in December.

The 11th militant killed by Indian forces this year was an "unidentified" man who was shot dead in an operation in the northern border district of Kupwara on Jan. 1.

Indian security forces killed 168 militants, 19 of them foreign nationals, in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in 2021, police chief Kumar told daily Greater Kashmir last week.

A total of 34 civilians and 29 security personnel, including policemen, soldiers and paramilitary soldiers, were also killed in the region last year, he added.

​​​​​​​- Disputed region

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – two of them over Kashmir.

Indian and Pakistani troops have also fought intermittently in the northern Siachen region since 1984. A cease-fire took effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. -