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Gunfight enters second day in Kashmir, 9 killed

The photo shows a residential quarter on the second day of an attack at India's Sunjuwan army camp in Jammu, February 11, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

At least nine people have been killed in a fierce gunfight between India's forces and fighters of Kashmir at an Indian army camp. 

Fighting raged into its second day in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Sunday.

A senior police officer told media outlets on Sunday that five soldiers and a civilian had been killed when fighters attacked Sunjuwan army camp in Jammu early on Saturday. He said three fighters had also been killed in violent clashes that ensued.

Bipin Rawat, India’s army chief, arrived in Jammu on Sunday morning to review the operation.

Indian security sources said an unknown number of assailants were cornered inside the residential complex of the camp, where they were locked in a fierce standoff.

A home ministry official said in the Indian capital, New Delhi, that fighters stormed the camp early on Saturday and hundreds of policemen, army and paramilitary soldiers were rushed in to dislodge the fighters.

S P Vaid, the director general of police for Jammu and Kashmir, said communication intercepts suggested that the individuals involved in the attack belonged to a "Pakistan-based separatist Kashmiri group."

India regularly accuses Pakistan of arming and training what it calls militants and pushing them across the restive frontier in an attempt to launch attacks on Indian forces. Pakistan strongly denies the allegation.

India has already deployed some 500,000 soldiers to the disputed region to further boost the security of the borderline and suppress pro-independence demonstrations in its share of Kashmir, where anti-India sentiments are high.

Indian paramilitary troops stand guard at a hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir, February 6, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both since the two partitioned and gained independence from Britain in 1947.

The two countries have fought three wars over the disputed territory. Despite a ceasefire agreement that was reached in November 2003, sporadic skirmishes continue in Kashmir.


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