India says five suspected militants killed in overnight Kashmir clashes

Indian police say they have killed five suspected militants, including a top commander, during overnight clashes in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Kashmir Police chief Vijay Kumar said on Sunday that two separate operations were conducted south of the main city of Srinagar. A top commander from the so-called Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group was among those killed.

"We had launched two separate operations on the basis of inputs about the presence of militants in these areas last night. Five militants, including JeM commander Zahid Wani, and a Pakistani national, Kafeel, were killed in these two operations," Kumar was quoted as saying. Kumar said a police officer was shot to death by heavily-armed gunmen outside his residence on Saturday evening in the south of Srinagar.

Kashmir has gone through heightened tension in the recent past, witnessing several fatalities. In January alone, 21 pro-independence fighters were killed across India-controlled Kashmir. Last year, the disputed region witnessed a wave of unrest to which the Indian forces responded with a widespread crackdown. Nearly 190 pro-independence fighters were killed.

Indian authorities say more than 400 suspected militants, nearly 100 civilians, and over 80 personnel of security forces have been killed in the Muslim-majority region since August 2019.

At least 2,300 people have also been arrested under the vaguely worded anti-terror legislation called the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which effectively allows people to be held without trial indefinitely. The practice has been extensively used in the Indian-controlled territory since the special status of Kashmir was revoked more than two years ago.

SS