At least three suspected rebel fighters and one Indian soldier have been killed in two separate incidents in Indian-administered Kashmir, days after Interior Minister Amit Shah’s high-profile visit to the disputed region.
According to the Indian army, a gun battle that began on Wednesday in a remote forested area of Kishtwar district in southern Kashmir resulted in the deaths of three suspected militants. The operation concluded on Saturday.
“In the gun battle, three terrorists were neutralised,” said Brigadier JBS Rathi, a senior Indian army official, using a term commonly employed to describe fighters opposing Indian rule in Kashmir. He added that troops had demonstrated “great tactical acumen” during the operation.
The army’s White Knight Corps posted on social media platform X that weapons and “war-like stores” were recovered from the encounter site.
In a separate incident late Friday night, one Indian soldier was killed in Sunderbani district along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. The White Knight Corps said on X that troops had “foiled an infiltration attempt” in the area.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region, has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both nations claiming the region in full but administering separate parts. An armed uprising against Indian rule began in the late 1980s, leading to the deployment of an estimated 500,000 Indian troops in the region.
Over the years, thousands of people—primarily civilians—have died in the conflict, as rebel groups have pushed for either independence or a merger with Pakistan.
India has regularly accused Pakistan of backing and sending militants across the LoC to launch attacks on Indian forces. Islamabad denies the allegations, stating it supports the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.
In 2019, a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights accused India of serious rights violations in Kashmir and called for an independent commission of inquiry. The findings followed earlier calls from the former UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein for an international investigation into abuses in the region.
Tensions have further escalated since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the region’s semi-autonomous status in 2019. The move was followed by a crackdown on dissent, curbs on civil liberties and media freedoms, and an intensification of military operations.
Last month, a clash in the region left four police officers and two suspected rebels dead, with several others wounded. In response to increasing attacks, India deployed thousands of additional troops, including special forces, across southern mountainous areas last year. Over the past three years, more than 50 Indian soldiers have been killed in such attacks.
