Gunmen attack paramilitary convoy in Kashmir, kill 2 soldiers
Militants have attacked a convoy of paramilitary soldiers in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing two and wounding 10 others.
On Saturday, the militants, believed to be anti-India rebels, attacked a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) before paramilitaries engaged them in a firefight in a nearby government-run training institute on the southern outskirts of Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar, police said.
“Two CRPF personnel died in the initial assault on the convoy and ten others were injured,” said Javaid Gillani, inspector general of police for the region, adding that the militants took refuge in the complex following the attack.
Gillani said that more than 110 civilian government employees were evacuated from the building.
Requesting anonymity, a witness, who worked at the complex, said that the militants “barged into the reception area as CRPF soldiers were firing towards them. They asked everyone to save themselves and go to the next building.”
The Muslim-majority region of Kashmir has been the scene of violent clashes in recent years. Indian army soldiers are in constant clashes with the fighters seeking independence from New Delhi in the troubled region.
Kashmir lies at the heart of a bitter territorial dispute since India and Pakistan became independent in 1947.
New Delhi and Islamabad both claim the region in full, but rule parts of it. The two countries have fought two wars over the disputed region.
India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire in Kashmir on November 26, 2003, and launched a peace process the following year. Since then, there have been sporadic clashes, with the two sides trading accusations of violating the ceasefire along their de facto border dividing the disputed region.
Thousands of people have been killed in the unrest in Kashmir over the past two decades.
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