Press TV- Two Indian troops have been killed and three more injured in the New Delhi-controlled side of disputed Kashmir in a gun battle between soldiers and militants hiding inside a military base, an official says.


Government Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri told local lawmakers in the restive region’s legislative assembly on Saturday that the exchange of fire began earlier in the day and continued into afternoon hours.

Moreover, Police Chief S.D. Jamwal of the region’s Jammu area further added that the armed men were holed up in the residential part of the military base where army service members and their families are housed.

He did not, however, mention how many gunmen were involved in the gun battle, but added that a soldier’s daughter was also injured during the fire exchange at the army camp located on the outskirts of Jammu.

The area of the military installation was cordoned off following the gun battle and schools were shut down, local authorities added.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among the mostly Muslim population of Kashmir, with most people supporting the cause of the militants fighting Indian rule.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] An Indian soldier stands guard at the entrance of the Sunjuwan Military Station in Jammu on February 10, 2018. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]

Unrest has gripped Kashmir – which has been divided between India and neighboring Pakistan since the end of Britain’s colonial rule in 1947 -- for years. Both sides claim the Himalayan region in its entirety.

Local people on the Indian-controlled side, however, have been demanding that the predominantly Muslim region be given independence or be merged with Pakistan.

Armed battles between Indian forces and pro-independence militants over the years have killed nearly 70,000 people, mostly civilians.

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of dispatching militants into Kashmir to wage attacks on its troops. Islamabad has persistently rejected the allegation.

The two nuclear rivals have also fought three wars over the control of the territory since their partition.