Srinagar, Kashmir - At least five Muslim militants including a top rebel commander were killed in gunbattles in India-administered Kashmir Wednesday while security forces were on high alert amid reports that Taliban fighters were waiting to infiltrate the state. Three firefights took place in the Pulwama, Kupwara and Baramulla districts, police said.
Attack helicopters were being used in the hunt for the rebels, who included the top brass of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the biggest militant outfit operating in the region, Farooq Ahmed, the state's top police officer, told reporters in the state capital Srinagar.
"Three militants including top LeT commander Abu Hamza, a Pakistani, were killed in an operation in the Zachaldhara area, Kupwara district today," Ahmed said.
Indian security agencies say the Pakistan-based LeT, which was also behind the November strike in Mumbai that claimed over 160 lives, runs camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
"The gunbattle erupted after the militants hiding in the area fired at a joint police and army team," Ahmed said, adding the gunbattle was continuing in the area some 100 kilometres north of Srinagar.
In another encounter that was ongoing since Monday, a militant was killed in a forest near Pampore town in Pulwama district. Three soldiers were wounded in the fighting.
Security forces also shot dead a militant in a gunbattle in Baramulla, Ahmed said.
News channels reported that senior LeT commanders were suspected to be hiding in the forests near Pampore.
India accuses Pakistan of training militants and helping Kashmiri rebels to foment trouble in Indian-administered Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies. The two countries have fought two wars over the disputed Kashmir region.
More than 45,000 people have died in the secessionist strife in India-administered Kashmir since the late 1980s.
Meanwhile, Indian media, citing intelligence sources, reported that 60 surrendered Taliban militants were being pushed into the troubled state by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency.
The fighters were allegedly told by the ISI to enter India and wage armed jihad (holy war) or face jail, the NDTV network reported. Some 350 militants were lodged in camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the report said.
Security has been stepped up on the border between the two parts of Kashmir to prevent militants from sneaking in.
Reacting to the reports, India's Defence Minister AK Antony, blamed Pakistan for not doing enough to curb infiltration into Indian Kashmir.
"Our armed forces are always on guard and I am sure they will be able to prevent the infiltration. I do not expect large-scale infiltration to take place," he said.
"Before the onset of winter they [Pakistan] are always trying to push the maximum number of militants into [India-administered] Kashmir," Antony said.
"The main thing is even after the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan is not willing to take strong action against the militants because all these militant camps are near [their] army formations. So if they are sincere, they can control it. But they are not controlling it," he added.
