Four Indian troopers had been killed and three others had been wounded in an ambush by militants combating in opposition to New Delhi’s rule in disputed Kashmir, officers stated on Thursday.

The Indian navy stated militants fired at two military autos in southern Poonch district late afternoon on Thursday. The space is near the extremely militarized line of management that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Lt. Col. Suneel Bartwal, an Indian military spokesman, stated troopers retaliated to the hearth and within the ensuing battle, 4 troopers had been killed and three others had been injured. He stated a search operation continued within the space.

No different particulars had been accessible and there was no unbiased affirmation of the ambush.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan every administer a part of Kashmir, however each declare the territory in its entirety.

Militants within the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been combating New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris assist the rebels’ purpose of uniting the territory, both underneath Pakistani rule or as an unbiased nation.

India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the cost, and most Kashmiris think about it a legit freedom battle. Tens of hundreds of civilians, rebels and authorities forces have been killed within the battle.

But since 2019, the territory has simmered in anger when New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms whereas intensifying counterinsurgency operations.

Last month, authorities forces killed seven militants in two separate counterinsurgency operations whereas rebels killed 4 Indian troopers, together with two military officers, within the area.