SRINAGAR, Jul 16 (NNN-PTI) – Since the beginning of this year, 78 militants have been killed, in gunfights with Indian government forces across the restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, Indian police said today.
Two militants were killed this morning, in a fierce gunfight in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
On Wednesday, three militants, including a commander, were killed in a similar gunfight, in the adjacent Pulwama district.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, a new trend of denying militant bodies to their families has started in the region. Instead of handing over the bodies to their respective families for burial, police take them to remote areas and bury them discreetly. Previously such places were restricted for the burial of unidentified militants.
Militant funerals used to attract huge crowds and trigger massive anti-India protests. A surge in militant attacks and targeted killings in the region was witnessed last month. A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in the region since 1989.
The militants often target Indian government force personnel, either with grenade attacks or resort to firing. Gunfights between the two sides take place intermittently across the region.
