Srinagar, Kashmir - Indian security forces recovered bodies of two suspected Muslim militants Monday, taking the death toll to nine from an operation to hunt rebels in high-altitude areas of India-administered Kashmir, officials said. A soldier from the Indian Army was also killed in the shootout in the Lanzkangan area, about 45 kilometres north of the state capital Srinagar.
"The operation to track down the militants started on Thursday following information that a group was moving in the densely forested region," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel AK Mathur said.
"Seven militants and a soldier were killed in encounters till Sunday," Mathur said. "Bodies of two slain militants were found on Monday. Operations are on to find other militants hiding in the area."
Army officials said 13 militants were in the group, many of them Pakistanis and other foreigners associated with the Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the largest rebel groups active in the Himalayan region.
The rise in militant activities in the upper reaches of the strategically important Lanzkangan area near the border with Pakistan-administered Kashmir prompted the authorities to go on the offensive.
India accuses Pakistan of helping Kashmiri rebels, a charge it denies. Pakistan calls the militants freedom fighters. The two countries have fought two wars over the disputed Kashmir region.
More than 40,000 people have died in the secessionist strife in India-administered Kashmir since the late 1980s.
