Three suspected Islamist militants from a Pakistan-based group were killed in a fierce gun-battle on Saturday in restive Indian Kashmir, a senior army commander said. The suspects, linked with the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) group, were killed in Rajpora, south of Kashmir’s main city Srinagar, Brigadier Shivendra Singh told reporters.The dead included Ahsan Bhai, the “most wanted” Pakistani commander of JEM, who has been operating in Kashmir for a decade and was involved in attacks on Indian security forces.
“Ahsan Bhai, along with his two Kashmiri associates, were trapped in a house in the village late on Friday and were killed in an ensuing gunfight,” Singh said after the clash ended late on Saturday. An Indian army major was among those wounded, Singh said. The house where the militants had taken shelter was razed to the ground during the gun-battle, army officials said.