Three suspected rebels killed in firefight in India-administered Kashmir

Indian security forces have killed three suspected rebels in India-administered Kashmir during fighting in a national park, the military says.

The incident occurred on Monday in the mountains of Dachigam, about 30km (18 miles) east of the disputed region’s main city of Srinagar.

“Three terrorists have been neutralised in an intense firefight,” the Indian army said in a statement on social media. “Operation continues.”

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and the South Asian nuclear powers, which both claim Kashmir in full, have fought three wars over its control.

Since 1989, Kashmiri rebels have been fighting against Indian rule, demanding independence or the region’s merger with Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of backing the rebellion, but Islamabad says it only provides diplomatic support to the Kashmiris’ struggle for self-determination.

Indian media reports said the three men killed on Monday were suspected to be behind the April 22 attack in India-administered Kashmir’s resort town of Pahalgam, which killed 26 people.

media could not immediately verify the involvement of the men in the April attack, which sparked a four-day military conflict with Pakistan that killed more than 70 people on both sides.