Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir - A marathon gun battle at a paramilitary base in Indian-administered Kashmir has ended after almost 36 hours, with the killing of the last remaining gunman fighting off Indian security forces.

The fighting at the Lethpora-based camp, in southern Kashmir, left five Indian soldiers and three fighters dead, according to officials.



The attack began in the early hours of Sunday when three rebels stormed the vast base, located next to a police commando training centre.

Having taken the camps' guards by surprise, the attackers forced their way into the premises and took position inside the compound's buildings.

An intense gun battle ensued, as hundreds of police, army and paramilitary soldiers rushed to the scene.

Shesh Paul Vaid, regional police chief, told Al Jazeera that the "operation ... concluded" on Monday afternoon, almost 36 hours later, after security forces recovered the body of the third attacker.

Two local fighters

Officials said one of the gunmen was a foreigner, while the other two were local residents from nearby villages, making them the first Kashmiris to carry out a "fidayeen" attack in seven years.

Those kind of assaults are typically suicide raids against official Indian installations, such as army and paramilitary camps. Heavily armed, the fighters usually engage in long stand-offs with the security forces until being killed.



Most of the "fidayeen" attacks have been carried out by foreigners affiliated with two Pakistan-based outfits - Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, which also claimed the raid at the Lethpora paramilitary base

Police identified the two local rebels as 16-year-old Fardeen Ahmad Khanday and 24-year-old Manzoor Ahmad Baba. They were both residents of south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Thousands of people participated in their funerals, which were followed by clashes with security forces.

Decades of fighting

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmir's mostly Muslim population, and most support the rebels' cause against Indian rule, despite a decades-long military crackdown against the armed rebellion.

The Indian government and its security apparatus have been frequently accused of violating human rights and carrying out extrajudicial killings.

Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Indian-administered portion to become independent or merge with Pakistan.

The strength of these rebel groups has deteriorated sharply in recent years, though they maintain the capability to mount spectacular and deadly attacks against Indian security forces.</s>Srinagar, India (AP) — Five Indian soldiers and three suspected militants were killed Sunday after rebels stormed a paramilitary camp in disputed Kashmir, triggering a daylong battle, officials said.

Separately, Indian and Pakistani soldiers traded gunfire along the highly militarized line dividing Kashmir between the two rivals, killing an Indian soldier, India’s army said.

In the incident at the paramilitary camp, gunmen in combat dress entered the camp near southern Lethpora village early Sunday firing guns and grenades at the sentry, said paramilitary spokesman Rajesh Yadav. He said soldiers inside the camp responded to the attack, which left at least three soldiers wounded.

The camp is located along the strategic highway connecting the Kashmir Valley with the rest of India and close to the chain of plateaus famed for Kashmir’s saffron fields. Besides counterinsurgency operations, the camp also serves as a training center for soldiers.

The Jash-e-Mohammed militant group, which is fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the English-language Greater Kashmir newspaper. The paper quoted the group as saying that “such attacks will continue till the last Indian soldier leaves Kashmir.”

The initial assault on the camp left one paramilitary soldier dead and two others wounded. Police said reinforcements of army soldiers and counterinsurgency police encircled the camp and exchanged gunfire with the assailants.

In the subsequent fighting, three more paramilitary soldiers and two suspected rebels were killed. Another soldier died of cardiac arrest while being evacuated along with many others who were trapped in the camp’s residential buildings.

Police said the fighting stopped Sunday night with the killing of a third militant, and that troops were searching the camp area.

Anti-India unrest has simmered in Kashmir since a popular rebel leader was killed over a year ago. Apart from mass anti-India protests and clashes often leading to the deaths of protesters since the leader’s killing, dozens of young Kashmiri men have joined rebel groups, leading to a surge in attacks. The Indian government responded by stepping up anti-rebel operations.

Over 200 militants, 78 police officers and soldiers, and at least 57 civilians have died in the violence this year, the deadliest since 2010.

Also on Sunday, the Indian army said one soldier was killed after Pakistani troops fired at forward posts in Nowshera sector along the highly militarized Line of Control dividing Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

Col. Nitin Joshi, an Indian military spokesman, called it an “unprovoked violation” of the 2003 cease-fire accord between the two countries, and said the Indian army “retaliated strongly and effectively.”

There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan.

India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir. They have fought two of their three wars over the region since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

Rebel groups demand that Kashmir be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir’s mostly Muslim population and most people support the rebels’ cause against Indian rule. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown since 1989. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.
An armed standoff between Indian security forces and Kashimiri rebels at a paramilitary base ends after 36 hours and leaves eight people dead.