Militants attacked an Indian army post in the disputed Kashmir region on Thursday, killing three soldiers. Meanwhile, two attackers were killed in a shootout amid heightened security ahead of India's Independence Day. celebration.
The attack in the Rajuri district, India's only Muslim-majority area, took place early in the morning, after which the area around the post was said to be off-limits as security forces conducted a search. A military official told Reuters.
"In the attack he lost three soldiers killed and two wounded. But the army counterattacked and killed two combatants," he said, noting he had the authority to speak to the media. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not.
The attack was sandwiched between his two significant days, just days after the Indian government marked his third anniversary of revoking Kashmir's constitutional autonomy. India was due to celebrate its 75th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule on Monday.
Many Kashmiris saw the loss of special autonomy as another step in the erosion of Muslim rights by India's Hindu nationalist government. The government has rejected it, saying it will promote development in the region by bringing it closer to the rest of the country.
The Himalayan region has been contested between India and neighboring Pakistan since the end of colonial rule in 1947, with both sides claiming it wholly but partially.
India holds the populous Kashmir Valley and Hindu-controlled areas around the city of Jammu, Pakistan controls a wedge of territory in the west, and its ally China The Ladakh region which holds the northern sparsely populated highland regions where most are Buddhist.
