India says three militants involved in shooting attack in India-administered Kashmir killed in firefight

Australia Broadcast Center

7 days ago

The Indian government says its military has killed three Pakistani militants involved in the shooting attack on tourists in Kashmir which left 26 men dead and sparked a conflict between the two nuclear-armed states in April.
The attackers, who New Delhi said were Pakistani nationals backed by Islamabad, had opened fire in a valley popular with tourists in Kashmir's scenic, mountainous region of Pahalgam, before fleeing into the surrounding pine forests.
Pakistan has always denied involvement in the attack.
The attack led India to target what it called "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, leading to four days of intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours before they agreed to a ceasefire.
Home Minister Amit Shah discussed the conflict in India's parliament on Tuesday.
"I want to tell ... the entire nation that these were the three terrorists who killed our citizens ... and now all three have been killed," Mr Shah said
The Indian army said the three people were killed in an intense gun battle in a Kashmir forest on Monday.
Mr Shah said that India had a "lot of proof" that the dead "terrorists" were Pakistanis.
He said security forces had recovered Pakistani voter identity cards of two of them and chocolates made in Pakistan.
The riles involved in the fire-fight on Monday had been forensically tested, he said, with results showing they were the same that were used in the April attack.
Pakistan's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the remarks.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir is at the heart of the hostility between India and Pakistan, who have fought two of their three wars over the region, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
New Delhi accuses Islamabad of helping Islamist separatists battling security forces in its part of Kashmir, but Pakistan says it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self determination.
Reuters/ABC