[Civilians rushed to the scene to protest the presence of the security forces, a frequent response to operations against militants in recent years. Separatist sentiment runs high in the valley, and a high level of militarization has led to disaffection with the Indian state and its tactics against civilians.]
By
Hari Kumar
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The
remains of a house damaged in a gun battle between militants and Indian
security
forces
in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday. Credit Danish Ismail/Reuters
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NEW
DELHI — Indian security
forces killed two militants, including a top commander, in a gun battle in the
Kashmir Valley on Tuesday morning that also left one civilian dead.
The two militants belonged to
Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani-based group that has long operated in the
valley.
The commander, known as Abu Dujana, and the
second militant were hiding out in a house in a village in Pulwama district
when the Indian security forces ambushed it, officials said at a news
conference in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir State.
Civilians rushed to the scene to protest the
presence of the security forces, a frequent response to operations against
militants in recent years. Separatist sentiment runs high in the valley, and a
high level of militarization has led to disaffection with the Indian state and
its tactics against civilians.
Some threw stones at the security forces,
which were made up of paramilitary members, police officers and the army. The
forces fired on the crowd with bullets and pellet guns, and also used tear gas.
One civilian was killed and at least 15 were wounded.
Abu Dujana had been active in the Kashmir
Valley since 2010 and was involved in many terrorist attacks, army and police
officials said at the news conference.
The police received intelligence early
Tuesday morning that he was in a village in Pulwama, said Munir Khan, Kashmir
Valley’s inspector general of police. He said that the police had asked the
militants to surrender, but that they had opened fire, leading to the battle.
“It’s a big dent on the capabilities of
Lashkar,” Lt. Gen. J. S. Sandhu, the top Indian army commander in the Kashmir
Valley, said of Abu Dujana’s death.
Last year, the Kashmir Valley faced prolonged
civil unrest after the killing of the popular militant leader Burhan Muzaffar
Wani, and nearly 100 people died in the clashes. Since then, the government has
tried to get ahead of protests, often by suspending internet services in the
fractious valley.
The Pulwama district government hospital
treated at least 15 people with bullet and pellet wounds. Two bullets also hit
a paramedic and a medical student inside a hospital ward whose windows open on
a road where clashes took place, Dr. Abdul Rashid Parra, the hospital’s medical
superintendent, said in a telephone interview. Three patients had pellet wounds
to their eyes, a common injury during the unrest last year.
The civilian who was killed had a bullet
wound to the chest, Dr. Parra said.
Mr. Khan said that internet services had been
suspended in the area. “We don’t want people to misuse the internet services
and indulge in propaganda, which is not called for,” he said.
He appealed to the civilians taking part in
the protests to stand down.
“Pelting or no pelting, disruptions or no
disruptions, the operations will go on,” he said.
Follow Hari Kumar on Twitter @HariNYT
Nida Najar contributed reporting.