India to lift travel advisory on IoK two months after crackdown

India on Thursday will lift an advisory asking tourists and pilgrims to leave occupied Jammu & Kashmir, further rolling back steps taken during a crackdown launched before the government scrapped the special status of the Muslim majority state two months ago. But underlining the continued security risks after the state government issued its advisory late on Monday, police said on Tuesday that two freedom fighters belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had been killed.

A military official told Reuters the fighters were caught in a firefight in Pulwama district, some 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of occupied Srinagar. A police official, who declined to be named, said the two deaths meant six freedom fighters had been killed since the crackdown began in August.

Telephone and internet services were suspended and public movements restricted in some areas to prevent protests hours before India announced it had revoked the region's special status. Some curbs have since been lifted. On Sunday, some 15 members of the main National Conference party were allowed to meet two senior leaders detained in the crackdown. However, mobile and internet services are largely still blocked in the occupied Kashmir valley.

"PARADISE ON EARTH" Kashmir touts itself as a "Paradise on Earth" and is known for its mountains, glaciers and Dal Lake, a favourite destination centuries ago for Mughal emperors escaping the summer heat of India's plains.

However, Britain and other countries still have advisories in place discouraging their citizens from travelling to occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where a grenade attack injured 10 people at the weekend. A military official, who also declined to be named, said the freedom fighters deaths on Monday came after the military set up checkpoints and laid ambushes in orchards.