SRINAGAR, India, May 7, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Two suspected rebels were killed in 
Indian-administered Kashmir during a firefight with soldiers, police said 
Tuesday, at a time when campaigning for national elections is underway in the 
disputed territory.

Scores of soldiers besieged a residential area in southern Kulgam district, 
some 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Kashmir's biggest city Srinagar, on Monday 
after armed militants were suspected to be present inside a house.

Two bodies of the suspected rebels "were recovered so far" from the site, 
police said in a statement posted Tuesday on social media platform X.

Images from the area showed smoke billowing from a house after it caught fire 
during the skirmish.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence 
in 1947, with both claiming the Himalayan territory in full.

Rebel groups opposed to Indian rule have for decades waged an insurgency in 
Indian-controlled Kashmir, demanding either independence or a merger with 
Pakistan.

The conflict has left tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and militants 
dead.

Violence and anti-India protests have drastically reduced since 2019, when 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government cancelled the Muslim majority 
region's limited autonomy.

But clashes between security forces and rebel groups have increased since 
voting began last month in India's six-week election.

Three suspected rebels were killed and a police officer and three soldiers 
wounded in three separate clashes across the territory in April.

Militants ambushed a military convoy in Kashmir's south on Sunday, killing 
one Indian air force corporal and wounding four other troops.