At least two Indian police officers were killed by suspected rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday. Officials said the two officers were shot dead during an ambush hours after Indian government forces clashed with rebels.
Officials said a group of rebels had fired upon a police bus Monday evening. The bus was transporting personnel from a police headquarters in a high-security area in the city of Srinagar. Officials said two officers were killed during the attack, while at least 12 other police officers were injured from the automatic weapons fire. Some officers are now, reportedly, in critical condition.
Indian forces immediately sealed off the area where the bus was ambushed. They are, reportedly, now conducting an investigation, and reinforcements have been dispatched to search for the assailants.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of those who were killed and injured during the attack. Modi said he is still attempting to gather details about the incident.
Hours before the ambush, India's counterinsurgency police, reportedly, clashed with a group of rebels during a "chance encounter" at a police checkpoint. The two groups, reportedly, exchanged fire near Kashmir's military airport. Police had killed two rebels during the fight.
Reports said the exchange had lasted only a few minutes. Rebel sources claimed that the police officers had attacked them without justification, and they denied that they fired at the officers. Immediately after the incident, dozens of angry residents gathered at the site of the fight, throwing rocks at police while chanting that they wanted freedom. Police were forced to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Two police policemen were killed by suspected rebels in the Kashmir Valley's northern Bandipore district last week. India and Pakistan are at odds over Kashmir, and both claim the province in its entirety. Since 1989, insurgents have been battling Indian control. So far, 70,000 people have died in the conflict, many of them civilians, according to human and civil rights organizations.
Modi's administration took away the province's limited autonomy and separated it into two federally managed regions in August 2019. The move further escalated tensions between the two countries in the disputed territory.
Hundreds of Kashmiri politicians, lawyers, and activists were imprisoned immediately after the move, which was followed by a months-long security and communications lockdown. According to rights groups, about 370 insurgents, 96 civilians, and 83 security officers have perished since Modi's decision.
