New Delhi - At least four suspected separatist militants were killed in two separate gunbattles with security forces in India-administered Kashmir on Thursday, news reports said. Three militants were killed in a clash that took place in the mountainous border district of Poonch, 200 kilometres north-west of the state's winter capital Jammu, in the early hours of Thursday, the IANS news agency reported.
The army raided a militant hideout in a village after receiving intelligence reports that rebels were present in the area. Three militants were killed in the gunbattle that erupted after the militants fired on the soldiers, army sources told the news agency.
No soldier was injured in the shootout. One of the militants was reported to belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the biggest militant outfit operating in Indian Kashmir.
Later on Thursday, security forces foiled an infiltration bid in the northern Tangdhar sector of the state by killing an unidentified militant who was trying to sneak into the region from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the PTI news agency reported.
India accuses Pakistan of training militants and helping Kashmiri rebels to foment trouble in India-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.
