Indian troops killed in militant clash in Kashmir

Two militants were also killed in Monday's shootout, Rajesh Kalia, a spokesman for the Indian army told CNN.

A joint Indian operation was launched early Monday by the army and police, based on intelligence on the presence of militants in the area. The cordon and search operation is still ongoing, Kalia added.

Indian authorities have accused neighboring Pakistan of being behind the spike in violence, claiming they have "incontrovertible evidence" that the country had a "direct hand" in last week's bomb blast -- the deadliest such attack on security forces since the beginning of an insurgency in the disputed territory that began in the late 1980s.

Indian security forces inspect the remains of a bus following a deadly attack on a paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy.

"We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries," an Indian Foreign Ministry statement said following Thursday's attack.

Amid escalating tensions between the two two nuclear armed countries, Mohammad Faisal, spokesperson for Pakistan's Ministry of Affairs, wrote on his Twitter account Monday that the country had recalled its High Commissioner for India, Sohail Mahmood.

Pakistan has vehemently denied having a role in the attacks. "We have always condemned acts of violence anywhere in the world," a Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said following last week's attack.

"We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations."

'Tumultuous history'

Kashmir, a largely mountainous region located between India and Pakistan, has had a tumultuous history.

The region has been bitterly contested by both India and Pakistan following the partition of the two countries in 1947, leading to three wars and numerous other skirmishes.

The attack last week comes more than two years after armed militants entered an army base in the garrison town of Uri, about 63 miles (102 kilometers) from Srinagar -- killing 18.

Separatist violence in the region has killed more than 47,000 people since 1989, although this toll doesn't include people who have disappeared due to the conflict. Some human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations put the death toll at twice that amount.

CNN's Sugam Pokharel in Delhi, Sophia Saifi in Islamabad and Mukhtar Ahmed in Srinagar contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)