Three Indian soldiers killed, one fighter martyred

At least three paramilitary soldiers were killed and an equal number injured Wednesday when suspected freedom fighters launched an attack on a key highway in Indian-occupied Kashmir, officials said. Sanjay Sharma, spokesman for India's paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) told AFP that at least two car-borne fighters attacked a foot patrol with automatic weapons, killing three members of the force.
He said one attacker was martyred in retaliatory fire, while another managed to escape. A senior police official speaking on condition of anonymity said a local police officer was also critically injured in the attack. The attack was carried out along a sensitive road in the south of the territory which is used by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visiting a Hindu cave shrine in the occupied Kashmir Himalayas. Eight pilgrims were killed after suspected fighters attacked their vehicle in 2017. The annual pilgrimage begins July 1.