HELD SRINAGAR: Indian troops shot dead six separatist militants in fire fights across Kashmir, police said on Tuesday, raising concerns militants may have stepped up violence ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit to India this week.
Kashmiri militants have staged attacks across India in the past and officials voiced fears they could use violence during Obama’s visit to draw global attention to the region, where separatists have fought a two-decade-old revolt against India.
Police said six Kashmiri militants had been killed since Monday in separate clashes, pointing also to efforts by militants to regroup amid popular street protests against New Delhi’s rule that have killed at least 110 people since June. “Police were exclusively involved in dealing with law and order (protests) during past four months, and this gave militants a chance to regroup,” said Syed Ashaq Hussain Bukhari, a senior police official.
“For this reason the number of encounters across the Valley has increased in past few weeks.” The protests since June have been the biggest since an armed revolt broke out in 1989 in Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region over which India and Pakistan have fought two wars.
Source: Pak Tribune