A civilian was killed in a car-bomb explosion, while occupation troops shot dead four freedom fighters commanders as fresh violence erupted in Indian occupied Kashmir, police said on Wednesday. The violence comes a fortnight ahead of resumption of a bus service linking the Indian and Pakistani zones of Kashmir, a step regarded as a key confidence-building measure between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
In the latest violence, a civilian was killed and five others including three Indian occupation soldiers were wounded in a car-bomb blast triggered by suspected freedom fighters in the Rawalpora area of occupied Srinagar, a police spokesman said.
The blast was the first car-bomb attack in months in occupied Srinagar.
The region's dominant freedom fighter group Hizbul Mujahedin claimed responsibility for the blast in a telephone call to a local news agency.
Meanwhile, Indian occupation troops overnight shot dead four wanted freedom fighters commanders in separate incidents, police said.
Three commanders of the freedom fighter group were shot dead by occupation soldiers in the southern district of Poonch, a police spokesman said.
Occupation troops also shot dead a self-styled Hizbul Mujahedin battalion commander near the southern health resort of Pahalgam, about 100 kilometers, south of occupied Srinagar.
"All the four were wanted by occupation security forces," the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Indian occupation soldiers recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition along the LoC, including machine guns, two assault rifles, two pistols, 22 anti-tank grenades and 36 hand grenades, an army spokesman said.