Police in Kashmir said two terrorists were killed on Wednesday, one of them was accused of shooting down a bank manager earlier this month, as part of a stepped-up counter-insurgency action that has sparked an exodus from the Muslim-majority area.

Since the late 1980s, India has been battling an Islamist separatist insurgency in Kashmir. Muslim Pakistan also claims the territory where the nuclear-armed rivals fought two of their three wars. Police in Kashmir said two terrorists were killed on Wednesday, one of them was accused of shooting down a bank manager earlier this month, as part of a stepped-up counter-insurgency action that has sparked an exodus from the Muslim-majority area.

Since the late 1980s, India has been battling an Islamist separatist insurgency in Kashmir. Muslim Pakistan also claims the territory where the nuclear-armed rivals fought two of their three wars.

This year, at least 16 individuals, including Hindus and Muslims, have been slain in targeted assaults in Kashmir.

Kumar stated that forces were chasing insurgents and had killed eight people implicated in recent killings.

According to him, at least 104 terrorists have been killed in Kashmir this year, more than double the number killed in the same period last year.