A rebel was killed during two separate clashes amid an increase in armed attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir.

A suspected rebel was killed in a battle with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, the military said, days after rebels killed two members of a government-backed militia.

“A terrorist has been neutralized by security forces (in Zabarwan forest near Srinagar city),” the Indian Army’s Chinar Corps said on Sunday.

Security forces were engaged in two separate battles – one in the Chaas area of ​​Kishtwar district in southern Jammu region and the other in Baramulla district, north of Srinagar, the capital of the disputed Kashmir region, according to Indian media reports.

The fighting comes days after rebels killed two members of a government-run militia called the Village Defense Group in Kishtwar on Thursday. The armed group Kashmir Tigers claimed responsibility for the killings in a statement on social media.

The separatists demanded either independence or merger with Pakistan. Many Muslim Kashmiris also support the rebels’ aims. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces were killed as India deployed more than 500,000 troops to quell the violence.

New Delhi has often accused Pakistan of supplying the rebels with weapons and helping them launch attacks, which Islamabad denies.

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in its entirety, but govern only part of it. They fought two wars over the Himalayan territory, which had witnessed decades of armed rebellion against Indian rule.

Increased attacks

Since October, rebel groups and Indian forces have exchanged fire, including an attack on an army convoy and firing on a construction camp, in which seven people were killed.

Last week, a rebel hurled a grenade into a busy market in downtown Srinagar, injuring 12 people.

On Friday, the Indian army said a team of soldiers and police had raided a village near the northwestern town of Sopore following a tip-off about the presence of armed rebels.

The army said in a statement that the rebels “fired indiscriminately” on the troops, leading to a gun battle, killing two fighters. Earlier, officials said two members of the Village Defense Group were killed by rebels in southern Kishtwar area on Thursday evening.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the attack on X, saying: “I expect the security forces to move quickly to plug any gaps in our counter-terrorism network and ensure that attacks like this they stop completely”.

On Wednesday, Kashmir’s newly elected regional assembly passed a resolution demanding that New Delhi restore its partial autonomy, which was stripped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019.

New Delhi stripped Kashmir of its special status in a sudden decision that was accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long communications blackout.

The Indian government criticized the resolution. “No power in the world can restore Article 370 (of the Constitution, relating to partial autonomy) in Kashmir,” Modi said on Wednesday.