Indian police say 5 rebels killed in Kashmir fighting

SRINAGAR, India – Government forces killed five suspected rebels in a gunbattle early Friday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

Inspector General Abdul Gani Mir said soldiers and police launched an operation based on intelligence that a group of militants were present in a forested area in Kangan region.

Mir said the troops suffered no casualties.

None of the nearly half dozen rebel groups issued a statement on the incident.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both.

Since 1989, an armed uprising and a subsequent crackdown by Indian forces have killed an estimated 68,000 people. Although the armed rebellion is largely suppressed, resentment against Indian rule runs deep and is mainly expressed through street protests.