SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

The Indian military on Friday claimed it killed two suspected militants along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region.

The Indian military's White Knight Corps said on X that the movement of militants was "detected" last night at the LoC, a de facto border that cuts the region into two, in the Poonch district.

It added that the Indian military engaged the "infiltrating" militants in "an intense and heavy firefight."

"The operation continued through the night, leading to the neutralization" of two militants, it said, adding that the Indian military recovered of "a number of weapons and war-like stores."

India and Pakistan rule the Jammu and Kashmir region in parts, but claim it in full. The LoC divided the regions into two territories, which are recognized as Indian-administered Kashmir, and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, or Azad Kashmir.

Protests over incarceration

Separately, in the capital Srinagar workers of a pro-India political party held solidarity protests with their leader, who is a member of Indian parliament but in jail since 2019.

Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, was scheduled to be on an indefinite hunger strike in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail, where he has been imprisoned on charges of terror funding since August 2019, when India scrapped the region’s autonomy.

He was one of several leaders jailed for their opposition to the move.

Rashid was elected to the Indian parliament early last year from Baramulla constituency, riding on a sympathy wave. But his party, the Awami Ittehad Party, was defeated in the local assembly elections after his dramatic release on bail, just ahead of polls, seen as New Delhi’s move to divide vote in its favor. His bail ended soon after the multi-phased elections concluded.

His party announced protests in New Delhi and Srinagar in support of their leader, who had sent them a message from jail that he would begin an indefinite hunger strike if he was not allowed to attend the budget session of parliament, which began today.

Denied permission by authorities to hold a sit-in at the press enclave in Srinagar, where many newspaper offices are located, Rashid’s son Abrar and other party members moved to a nearby shopping complex but were detained by the police.

Before detention, Abrar told reporters that preventing his father from attending parliament was a “murder of democracy.” Rashid's brother, Sheikh Khurshid, a member of the local assembly, said more than 30 party workers have been detained at various places.