Indian army says kills 3 militants along border with Pakistan

By Fayaz Bukhari SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - The Indian army said it killed three militants along the disputed border with Pakistan early on Saturday, foiling the third infiltration attempt in the past two weeks. "Our troops launched an operation after noticing the movement of three terrorists near the LoC," said Lieutenant General Subrata Saha, the commanding officer of the 15 Corps in Kashmir in India's north. "They were challenged by troops deployed there and all three were killed." The Indian army, which killed 59 militants near the so called Line of Control (LoC) separating Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir last year, says it has seen a rise in infiltration attempts in recent weeks. The army killed four militants during a 16-hour gun battle in Kashmir last week. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part. India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the rebels in the portion it controls and sending them to the Indian side. Pakistan denies that. Last year, India's border state of Jammu and Kashmir saw 193 militancy-related fatalities and so far this year 54 have died, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. (Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Kim Coghill)