At least 4 Indian soldiers killed during firefight in Kashmir

Government forces were conducting search operations when the shooting began in the forests of Doda in Jammu area.

At least four Indian soldiers were killed in a gun battle with rebels fighting against Indian rule in Indian-administered Kashmir, the latest in a series of deadly attacks.

The troops were ambushed in the forests of the southern Doda district in the Jammu division late on Monday, the army said in a statement.

Government forces were conducting search operations in the area based on intelligence when the shooting began. “Contact with terrorists was established … heavy firefight ensued,” the army said.

Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha, the top political official in the Himalayan region, said forces would “avenge [the] death of our soldiers”.

In a statement, a group calling itself the Kashmir Tigers claimed responsibility for the assault saying it “laid an ambush and opened fire” on Indian forces in an attack that lasted 20 minutes. It claimed the death toll was higher than officially announced.

The incident brings the number of soldiers and police killed this year on the Indian side of the disputed territory to 17.

A security official, who asked not to be named, told AFP news agency fighters have shifted operations from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley to the Hindu-dominated southern Jammu area, where “counterinsurgency measures are not as strong”.

#GeneralUpendraDwivedi #COAS and all ranks of #IndianArmy convey their deepest condolences to the #Bravehearts Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D Rajesh, Sepoy Bijendra & Sepoy Ajay, who laid down their lives in the line of duty, while undertaking a counter terrorist operation in… pic.twitter.com/R4dXvD9geZ

— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) July 16, 2024

India’s Defence