Indian soldier killed after abduction in Occupied Kashmir

An Indian soldier was abducted by suspected gunmen and killed in Occupied Kashmir, hours after results were announced for the disputed region's first local elections in a decade.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and is home to a long-running freedom struggle.

Two soldiers were kidnapped on Tuesday evening in Anantnag district, an Indian police officer told AFP on Wednesday.

"One of the soldiers managed to escape. He has two bullet wounds and is undergoing treatment," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media.

The body of the other soldier was recovered Wednesday morning from a forest, hours after a manhunt began seeking to locate the pair.

At least 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in Occupied Kashmir, battling an freedom movement with tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and Mujahideen killed since 1989.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government cancelled Held Kashmir's limited autonomy in 2019, a sudden decision accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long communications blackout.

His administration says the decision has allowed it to make headway in curbing the movement, but critics have accused it of suppressing political freedoms and local civil society.

The soldiers were abducted after results were announced in Occupied Kashmir's first regional polls since 2014, with an alliance led by the regionalist National Conference to form a government.

Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, expected to be named the territory's chief minister, said the result was a rebuke of the policies implemented by Modi's party.