A deadly four-day gunbattle between government troops and suspected militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir ended on Friday, police and army officials said.
Four soldiers and three suspected militants were killed in the fighting as government forces battled militants in Pattan, a town 30 kilometers north of Srinagar, said Col Majinder Singh, an Indian army spokesman. The firefight started late on Tuesday when suspected militants hurled grenades and opened heavy gunfire on an army patrol in the town, Singh said. One soldier was killed on Tuesday and two others on Wednesday. On Friday, an army officer was killed when suspected militants opened fire on advancing troops. However, a police officer at the scene said that a bullet fired by his own colleague during the gunbattle killed the army officer. Troops recovered the body of a suspected militant on Friday morning, said the police officer. The officer said six soldiers including an army officer and a civilian were also wounded in the gunbattle. |