Under elaborate security, residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir began casting their votes Wednesday in the second phase of a staggered election for a local government. About 2.6 million residents are eligible to elect 26 of the 239 candidates in six districts,

Voters queued outside polling stations in India's Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to vote in the first provincial election being held in a decade in the Himalayan region that has grappled with years of militant violence.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents are voting in elections that some hope will lead to restoration of the territory's statehood, which ended when it became a federally governed territory in 2019.

Residents of Indian-controlled Kashmir are participating in a local election under tight security, marking the first time in decades that separatist groups are not boycotting the vote. For decades, separatists in Kashmir boycotted elections,

No party is seen likely to win an outright majority amid political fragmentation in the disputed Himalayan territory

For the first time in decades, separatists who challenge New Delhi's rule over Kashmir are not boycotting such a local vote.