OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: Freedom fighters shot dead five soldiers in Illegally Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on Monday, the army said, stoking tensions in the restive territory following a string of civilian murders. Separately two suspected freedom fighters were martyred in different incidents, authorities said.

Colonel Devendar Anand told AFP that one officer and four soldiers “were killed during a search operation probably by infiltrators” in a mountain pass near the Line of Control (LoC). “The operation is ongoing,” he added.

The shootings were the deadliest attack on military forces in the area since a ceasefire along the LoC announced in February.—AFP