Daily Times

SRINAGAR: An Indian soldier and four Kashmiri separatists were killed in a gun battle in the Indian-occupied Kashmir on Thursday, an army spokesman said. Soldiers intercepted a group of separatists trying to cross the heavily militarised de-facto border from Pakistan into India at daybreak, triggering a fierce firefight, spokesman N N Joshi said. “Four separatists were killed in the operation and a soldier who was injured in the fire fight later succumbed,” Joshi said. “This was the second infiltration bid in three days.” A separatist and a soldier were killed on Wednesday in a gun battle in the mountainous region that lasted 24 hours. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, but both countries claim the Muslim-majority territory in its entirety.