By Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR (Reuters) – At least four people, including two soldiers, were killed when militants ambushed an army vehicle in India’s restive Kashmir on Thursday night, officials said, the fourth attack in the region in a fortnight and the second this week.
The attacks come close on the heels of a government formed by an opposition alliance taking over in the territory where separatist militants have fought security forces for decades and thousands of people have been killed.
At least nine soldiers were killed in two separate militant attacks in the region in July.
Thursday’s attack occurred in the Bota Pathri area near Kashmir’s border with Pakistan, officials said, adding that two army porters were also killed in the incident and three soldiers injured.
“A massive search operation has been launched against the militants responsible for the attack…Additional reinforcements have been sent to the area,” said an army official who declined to be named.
Security forces are using drones and helicopters to scan the forest in the region where the incident occurred, a senior police officer said.
The People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), which Indian authorities say is an offshoot of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-E-Mohammed, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement circulating on social media.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the statement.
Authorities closed Gulmarg town’s cable car – a popular tourist attraction that lies about 12 km(7 miles) from the spot of the attack – following the incident.
Around one million people use the cable car annually.
“The shutdown is a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of tourists and staff,” a senior official said.
At least six migrant workers and a doctor were shot dead in another attack in Kashmir this week when militants opened fire near a tunnel construction site.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, in a post on X, termed the “recent spate of attacks” in the region “a matter of serious concern”.
Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by both India and Pakistan, and the 2019 revocation of its special status, which saw it being split into two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, led to the countries downgrading ties.
($1 = 84.0670 Indian rupees)
(Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)