Indian forces on Monday killed three militants, including the suspected organiser of a suicide bombing in the disputed region of Kashmir that fuelled tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, police said, with five troops also killed in the clash.

The suicide bomb attack on a paramilitary police convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir last Thursday killed at least 40 men, the deadliest single assault on Indian forces in 30 years of insurgency in the Muslim-majority region. The Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack.

India accuses Pakistan for harbouring the group. Pakistan denies that. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, facing an election that must be held by May, is under domestic pressure for decisive action against Pakistan. Modi has promised a strong response and says he has given the military a free hand to tackle cross-border militancy. (RTRS)