SRINAGAR, India: Six suspected rebels and an air force commando were killed Saturday in a fierce gunfight in Indian-administered Kashmir which also injured another soldier, the Indian army said.
The shootout began when soldiers cordoned off a neighborhood in the northern area of Hajjin after a tip-off that armed militants were hiding there, said army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia.
“Six terrorists have been killed in the encounter,” Kalia told AFP.
“One IAF (India Air Force) soldier was martyred and another army soldier was injured.”
On Friday a militant and a police officer were killed in the outskirts of the main city of Srinagar during a brief shootout.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the former Himalayan kingdom in full.
Rebel groups have for decades fought Indian soldiers and paramilitaries deployed in the disputed region, demanding independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan.
The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.
India accuses Pakistan of sending fighters across their de facto border in Kashmir to launch attacks on its forces.
Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only provides moral and diplomatic support for the Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination.
Fighting leaves 7 dead in Indian-controlled Kashmir
Fighting leaves 7 dead in Indian-controlled Kashmir
Over 1,400 Indonesians left Cambodian scam groups in five days: embassy
- Scammers working from hubs across Southeast Asia lure Internet users globally into fake romances and cryptocurrency investments
- Some foreign nationals have evacuated suspected scam compounds across Cambodia this month
PHNOM PENH: More than 1,400 Indonesians have left cyberscam networks in Cambodia in the last five days, Jakarta said on Wednesday, after Phnom Penh pledged a fresh crackdown on the illicit trade.
Scammers working from hubs across Southeast Asia, some willingly and others trafficked, lure Internet users globally into fake romances and cryptocurrency investments, netting tens of billions of dollars each year.
Some foreign nationals have evacuated suspected scam compounds across Cambodia this month as the government pledged to “eliminate” problems related to the online fraud industry, which the United Nations says employs at least 100,000 people in Cambodia alone.
Between January 16-20, 1,440 Indonesians left sites operated by online scam syndicates around Cambodia and went to the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh for help, the mission said in a statement.
The “largest wave of arrivals” occurred on Monday when 520 Indonesians came to the embassy, it said.
Recent Cambodian law enforcement measures against scam operators meant more citizens would likely continue showing up at the embassy, it added.
“The main problem for them is that they do not possess passports and they are staying in Cambodia without valid immigration permits,” according to the embassy.
It urged Indonesians leaving scam sites to report to the embassy, which could assist them with securing travel documents and overstay fine waivers in order to return home.
Indonesia said this week that its embassy in Phnom Penh handled more than 5,000 consular service cases for citizens in Cambodia last year — more than 80 percent of which were related to Indonesians who “admitted to being involved with online scam syndicates.”
Cambodia arrested and deported Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi, accused of running Internet scam operations from Cambodia, to China this month.
Chen, a former adviser to Cambodia’s leaders, was indicted by US authorities in October.
Analysts say Chen’s extradition has left some of those running Internet scams from Cambodia fearing legal consequences — after the criminal enterprises ballooned for years — with some operators opting to release people or evacuate their compounds.
