SRINAGAR, India - Five Islamic militants and an Indian soldier were killed in gunbattles in Kashmir, police said on Tuesday as the region’s chief minister hailed troops for a ”commendable” counter-insurgency campaign.The first gunbattle erupted in southern Pulwama district when soldiers raided a civilian house where two militants had taken refuge, police said. One of the slain militants was identified by police as Wasim, a Pakistani national and “district commander” of the Jaish-e-Mohammed rebel group. “He was one of the wanted commanders,” a police spokesman said, adding three soldiers and the owner of the house were injured in the fighting.
Indian troops killed three more rebels in two separate skirmishes in neighbouring Shopian and Bijbehara districts on Tuesday, police said.