Multiple Gunbattles İn Kashmir Kill 8

At least eight people including a minor boy have been killed in multiple gunbattles in Kashmir since Thursday, officials said.



India's Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia confirmed the killings of seven militants in northern Sopore, Baramulla and Bandipora and southern Shopian districts.



"One officer and two of our soldiers were also wounded," Kalia said.



A12-year-old boy identified as Aatif Mir was killed along with two militants in an overnight gunbattle in Hajin area in northern Kashmir.



According to police in the region, the two militants held the boy hostage in his own house, where they were trapped, despite repeated attempts made to recover him.



"Aatif Mir was kept hostage by terrorists till the end and despite repeated requests by community members and police for his release, he was brutally killed," police said in a statement.



Police said that both militants in the Hajin gunbattle belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant outfit and were Pakistani nationals.



Jammu and 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, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.



Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into 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 of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989. -