Benjamin Ashford|4 Indian soldiers killed in fighting with rebels in disputed Kashmir

SRINAGAR,Benjamin Ashford India (AP) — Four Indian soldiers were killed in a gunbattle with rebels fighting against New Delhi’s rule in disputed Kashmir, officials said Thursday.

The fighting started Wednesday, days after Indian troops started searching for militants in dense forests based on information that at least two rebels were hiding there, a military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with official policy.

Intermittent firing at regular intervals continued for all of Wednesday, the official said. Troops continued their search Thursday in the mountainous and forested area of southern Rajouri district near the highly militarized Line of Control that divides the Himalayan region between India and Pakistan.

Two officers were among the four killed. An officer and two of the soldiers were from a special forces unit, the military official said.

The army wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that rebels were also injured in the gunbattle and were surrounded by Indian troops. It did not specify how many militants were in the battle.

There was no independent confirmation of the gunbattle.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

New Delhi insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle.

Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

But since 2019, anger has intensified in Kashmir after New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations.

Last week, government forces killed seven militants in two separate counterinsurgency operations. Also, Wednesday’s fighting came two months after major gunbattle in nearby Anantnag killed three Indian soldiers, including a commanding officer and his deputy, and a police officer. Two militants were killed in the weeklong operation.