Zahid Rafiq
03 January 2019•Update: 03 January 2019
By Zahid Rafiq
SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir
Three militants were killed in a gun battle in southern Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, leading to protests.
"Three militants were neutralized and the bodies were recovered from the site of the gun battle,” Indian police said in a statement.
In the statement, police said that they had prior information about the presence of militants “in the higher reaches of Tral” in the Pulwama district.
Police identified the three slain militants as south Kashmiri locals.
Civilian protests erupted in the southern areas after the news of killing militants spread.
Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.
Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.
Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.
