Nine killed in IoK gun battles

• At least 54 separatists have been killed in occupied Kashmir this year, including more than 30 since the start of the lockdown from late March.

OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: Five security personnel and four separatists have been killed in two gun battles in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), officials said Sunday.

Four army personnel, including two officers, a counterinsurgency policeman and two militants died after a firefight in the village of Changimul near the Line of Control that divides the disputed territory, said army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia.

They had entered a home to "to evacuate the civilians" but came under "heavy fire" from militants inside the building, Kalia added in the statement.

It was unclear why the men had entered the house, with a police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, telling AFP they had "walked into an ambush".

On Saturday, two separatists were killed by security forces in a brief shootout in the Pulwama area of the southern Kashmir valley, police said.

At least 54 separatists have been killed in occupied Kashmir this year, including more than 30 since the start of the lockdown from late March, according to an AFP tally.

Early last month at least five Indian soldiers and nine separatists were killed in two separate firefights over two days in the Kashmir valley.

Near-daily cross-border firing between India and Pakistan along Line of Control (LoC) has occurred regularly despite the pandemic and the ongoing Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.