By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, JAMMU KASHMIR, India (AA): Five Kashmiri militants were killed in a gun battle by Indian armed forces in southern Kashmir on Sunday.

“Based on a credible input about the presence of terrorists in the Kellam area of Devsar in District Kulgam, a cordon and search operation was launched today. In the ensuing encounter, five militants were killed and the bodies were retrieved from the site of the gunfight,” police said in a statement.

All the slain militants have been identified as local Kashmiris.

In a separate incident, several people, including seven members of the Indian forces, were wounded in a grenade blast in the city of Srinagar.

“Four policemen, three paramilitary personnel, and four civilians were injured in the grenade attack,” police said.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965 and 1971 — two of them over Kashmir.

Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.

[Archive Photo: Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir. Photo by AA]