Indian soldiers battle rebels in Kashmir, five killed

SRINAGAR, India, December 19 — Indian security forces in Kashmir on Thursday killed at least five suspected gunmen in ongoing clashes, the army said, the latest outbreak of violence in the disputed Muslim-majority Himalayan region.

Kashmir has been divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan since their partition at the chaotic end of British rule in 1947, and both countries claim the territory in full.

"Five terrorists have been neutralised by the security forces in the ongoing operation", the Indian army's Chinar Corps said, adding that two soldiers had been wounded in the firefight.

Half a million Indian troops are deployed in the far northern region, battling a 35-year insurgency in which tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed, including at least 120 this year.

Rebel groups demand either independence or the region's merger with Pakistan.

New Delhi regularly blames Pakistan for arming militants and helping them launch attacks, an allegation Islamabad denies.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government cancelled the territory's partial autonomy in 2019, bringing the region under its direct rule.

The territory of about 12 million people has since been ruled by a New Delhi-appointed governor who oversees a local government that voters elected in October in opposition to Modi.