Four policemen, two militants killed in gun battle in India's Kashmir

At least four police personnel and two militants were killed in a gun battle in India's restive territory of Jammu and Kashmir, an official said on Friday, as troops searched for heavily armed men who local residents had spotted in the area on Sunday.

Militants have for decades fought security forces in the region, known for its scenic lakes, lush meadows, and snow-topped mountains, resulting in the death of thousands of people, though violence has tapered off in recent years.

Government data show 14 security personnel were killed in such violence in the first half of 2024, and 30 died in 2023.

Kashmir has also been at the heart of over 70 years of hostility between India and Pakistan, both of which claim it in full but rule it in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.

The encounter this week took place in a forested part of the Kathua area, near India's border with Pakistan, where the men were spotted last week.

"We have recovered bodies of three police men and have also spotted the body of another cop and two militants lying in the forest," the official, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters.

Arms and ammunition, including two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, empty shells and some magazines of assault rifles were also recovered from the area, the official said.

Police and the army are yet to reveal the number of those killed in the operation, but the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, said in a post on X that "several terrorists" had been "neutralised" in the encounter.

"I bow to the valorous martyrs of J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) Police, who laid down their lives for our motherland...Operation in progress," he added.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had, in 2019, revoked the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir - India's only Muslim-majority region - and split it into two federally administered territories.

"No power in the world" could restore the region's special status, Modi said in November.