SRINAGAR: Indian soldiers shot dead two suspected militants on Sunday after they crossed into Indian-held Kashmir from the Pakistani side of the disputed region, an army spokesman said.
The two were killed along the Line of Control (LoC) – the de facto border that splits Kashmir between Pakistan and India – in the southern Poonch sector, the Indian army spokesman said.
“The operation in the area is still going on,” he said, adding that militants were desperate to get into IHK before the Himalayan passes get blocked by snow. The insurgency against Indian rule has left more than 47,000 people dead since it erupted in 1989, according to an official count.
Pakistan denies Indian allegations that it funds and arms rebels in Indian Kashmir. Violence had eased after India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004 but popular protests against Indian rule since June have left more than 110 protesters and bystanders dead.
The unrest has left the government grappling for solutions to the outpouring of anger in the region, where popular desire for an independent Kashmir remains strong.
Home Minister P Chidambaram announced in October that the government had selected senior journalist Dilip Padgaonkar and professors MM Ansari and Radha Kumar to hold talks with separatists.
