Indian soldier and suspected militant killed in attacks across Jammu

At least one Indian soldier was killed and six security officers were injured in separate attacks across Jammu region in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir territory after suspected militants infiltrated a town and attacked an army post.

One suspected militant was killed and eight others were injured, including six security personnel, in clashes in Doda region after gunmen opened fire on Indian security forces at an army base on Tuesday night, Anand Jain, a senior police officer supervising the operation, said.

The officer said militants also entered Kathua region, where one paramilitary officer was killed during clashes. The attack led to fierce clashes that continued for several hours into the morning, Mr Jain said.

The attacks come days after unidentified militants in Jammu ambushed a bus carrying the pilgrims on Sunday night, sparking widespread government condemnation and warnings that the perpetrators would be held accountable. Nine were killed and more than 30 were injured in the bus attack.

Jammu and Kashmir – the Himalayan disputed territory – has been divided and claimed by India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.

A decades-long armed rebellion against New Delhi’s rule has left tens of thousands of people dead, particularly in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, where anti-India sentiments run high.

Sunday's attacks is one of the deadliest targeting civilians in the area in recent years. The attack was allegedly carried out on the directions of Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Abu Hamza, officials claimed.

On Tuesday, suspected militants opened fire and injured a civilian at a village in Jammu's Kathua district.

New Delhi accuses Islamabad of training and arming the militants, a charge denied by the rival nation.

"It is our hostile neighbour [Pakistan] who always tries to damage the peaceful environment in our country,” Mr Jain said.

The officer said the militants entered the village in Kathua but panicked and fired randomly in the air. Locals informed the police who engaged in a gunfight in which one attacker was killed.

“Two terrorists who appeared to be freshly infiltrated [from across the border] surfaced in Saida Sukhal village [Kathua] around 8pm and asked for water from a household," Mr Jain said, adding that the people were immediately frightened.

Mr Jain said that police arrived to the scene and killed one militant who threw a grenade at the police party. One person from the house was injured and is in a stable condition in hospital.

There has been an sharp rise in armed violence in the region following New Delhi’s shock decision of stripping it of its limited autonomy in 2019 and bringing it under its direct control.

The government argued that the semi-autonomous status of the region fuelled separatist sentiments in Kashmir, which remains at the centre of a territorial dispute with nuclear-armed arch-rival Pakistan.

Militant attacks in Jammu region have also increased in recent years.