Image copyright AP Image caption Pakistan and India have overlapping territorial claims in Kashmir

Seven suspected militants have been killed in two separate gun battles with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, authorities say.

The Indian army said four militants were shot dead in a clash in the state's Kupwara district on Sunday.

Another three rebels were killed after they tried to storm a government office in Poonch district.

A curfew has been in effect for over two months across Kashmir following an upsurge of violence since 9 July.

The protests were sparked by the killing of a popular militant leader. Burhan Wani, 22, died in a gunfight with the Indian army.

More than 70 people, mostly young men, have since been killed in clashes between protestors and security forces, and thousands more injured in the worst violence seen in the region for years.

On Sunday Indian soldiers killed four militants as they tried to cross the de-facto border that divides the disputed Himalayan region between India and Pakistan in Kupwara, an army official said.

"They tried to infiltrate into Nowgam sector (an area northwest of the main city of Srinagar) and were intercepted. Four militants were killed and their AK rifles were recovered," army spokesman NN Joshi told the AFP news agency.

Three other rebels were killed after they tried to enter a government office in Poonch. A policeman was also killed in the clash.

The clashes with militants came as stone-pelting residents protesting against Indian rule of the region clashed with security forces in Pulwana and two other places in the southern Kashmir valley, leaving many injured, police said.

Disputed Kashmir is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan and has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years, sparking two wars between the countries.

Within the disputed Muslim-majority territory, some militant groups have taken up arms to fight for independence from Indian rule or a merger with Pakistan. </s> related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.

4 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.

Seven civilians died and dozens were injured when Indian security forces opened fire at people protesting the killing of three militants in a gun battle in restive Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

SRINAGAR, India: Seven civilians died and dozens were injured when Indian security forces opened fire at people protesting the killing of three militants in a gun battle in restive Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said an operation was launched in the morning in response to intelligence reports about the presence of militants in a village in Pulwama district, south of the state's summer capital Srinagar.

"During the operation militants fired upon troops, leading to a gun battle in which three militants were killed," he said.

A senior police officer, who was not authorised to speak to the media, said large numbers of local people then gathered at the site, leading to clashes between them and security forces in which seven people were killed and about 50 injured.

An eyewitness, Mohammad Ayuob, told Reuters Indian troops fired at the locals when they tried to retrieve the body of a militant.

Jammu and Kashmir is mainly Hindu India's only Muslim-majority state. India and Pakistan both rule the region in part but claim in full. India accuses Pakistan of fomenting trouble in its part of Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies.

The Himalayan state has been particularly tense over the past few months as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party pulled out of local government, leaving a power void.

Widespread protests have broken out in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir over the killings. Security has been tightened and troops rushed to potential hotspots. A curfew was imposed in Pulwama town and surrounding areas, according to media reports.

The separatist group Hurriyat Conference called for a three-day strike and protests across Kashmir.

"Bullets and pellets rain!" its Chairman Mirwaiz Omar tweeted, adding that their supporters would march towards an army cantonment on Monday so that the Indian government can "kill all of us at one time rather than killing us daily".

Authorities have suspended train services in the Kashmir Valley and shut down mobile internet services to try and prevent the unrest from spreading.

Indian security forces say they have killed 242 militants this year. In addition, 101 civilians and 82 security officials have also died, according to officials. The total death toll in violence is the highest in more than a decade. </s> SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Five civilians were killed and more than 50 wounded when Indian troops opened fire on hundreds of people who pelted them with stones as they carried out an operation against militants in Kashmir, a senior police official said.

The police official, who asked not to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media, said at least 10 of the wounded protesters were hit by bullets and four were in a critical condition.

Indian security services killed five militants in an operation in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Sunday, including Saddam Padder, a Hizbul Mujahideen commander, and Mohammad Rafi Bhat, a Kashmiri professor with alleged ties to militant groups, the Director General of Police in Kashmir, S.P. Vaid, said.

The militants were killed in a gunbattle lasting several hours in the Shopian district in Kashmir, police officials said.

A police spokesman said the circumstances surrounding the death of civilians was being investigated.

Security forces killed four civilians in a village in Kashmir in April when they opened fire on protesters pelting them with stones to stop an operation against militants, police officials said.

The Joint Resistance Leadership of separatists on Sunday asked people to march to the chief minister’s office in Srinagar on Monday to protest against the bloodshed.

“Words fail to express the pain of the tragedy unfolding in Shopian as the count of the brutally killed by Indian forces keeps rising,” said Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Muslim separatists have been waging a violent campaign against Indian rule since the late 1980s in Indian-held Kashmir, the only Muslim majority state in mostly Hindu India.

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of covertly supporting the long-running separatist insurgency.

The nuclear-armed South Asian rivals have fought two of their three wars over the divided Himalayan region.

Internet services in the area were suspended in the aftermath of Sunday’s killings, a Reuters witness said, and train services have been suspended.

Violence has increased in the last two months and this year so far 131 people have been killed in Kashmir, including 72 militants, 31 civilians and 28 Indian security personnel. </s> SRINAGAR: Three people were killed and more than a dozen injured on Sunday when police clashed with protesters during a by-election in Srinagar in India's disputed Kashmir region, an official said.

Separatist factions in Kashmir had called for a boycott of the by-polls, resulting in heightened security and low voter turnout when the polling began.

In Budgam district, police used tear gas to counter stone-pelting protesters, but was then forced to open fire, killing three people, a senior police official told Reuters.

Overall, more than a dozen people were injured during the clashes across central Kashmir on Sunday, the official said.

The by-election in Srinagar is being held to fill a vacant seat in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament. A second by-poll in the state for a separate Lok Sabha seat is set to take place on April 12 in Anantnag. The results of both polls are set to be announced on April 15.

India and Pakistan, which claim Kashmir in full but rule only in part, have fought two of their three wars over the disputed region since independence.

India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist fighters - a charge Islamabad denies. The state has been in a phase of unrest since last year when Indian security forces killed separatist leader Burhan Wani.

The violence since then, largely in the form of troops firing on civilian crowds with shotguns after protesters throw stones, has left 84 civilians dead and more than 12,000 civilians and security force personnel wounded. </s> Indian troops killed at least eight suspected militants in held Kashmir, triggering a new round of anti-India protests and clashes, officials said on Sunday.

The gun battle in southern Kashmir began overnight after government forces raided two villages following a tip that militants were hiding there, police claimed.

Police officials claimed the militants tried to escape from a security cordon while firing their guns and grenades but were killed in the ensuing fighting.

"Seven militants, including some commanders, were killed in Shopian area while one militant was killed and another captured in Anantnag early on Sunday," top Indian police officer in the region S.P. Vaid said.

Indian police said a third gunbattle also erupted in Shopian area where several suspected militants were trapped. No rebel group fighting against Indian rule immediately issued any statement about Sunday's fighting.

As the fighting raged, anti-India protests erupted in several villages in southern Kashmir in solidarity with the militants. Many protesters also tried to march to the gunbattle sites to help the trapped suspected militants escape, leading to clashes between rock-throwing residents and government forces who fired shotgun pellets and tear gas.

According to hospital officials and police, at least three dozen civilians were injured in the ongoing clashes.

In recent years, Kashmiris, mainly youths, have displayed open solidarity with anti-India militants and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations against the militants.

The anti-India protests and clashes have persisted despite the Indian army chief warning recently that tough action would be taken against stone throwers during counterinsurgency operations.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim it in its entirety. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, which in recent years has seen renewed armed attacks and repeated public protests against Indian rule.

Militants have been fighting Indian rule since 1989, demanding Kashmir be made part of Pakistan or become an independent country.

Most Kashmiris support the militants' cause against Indian rule while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. </s> SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Officials in India's portion of Kashmir say five people were killed when security forces opened fire on crowds of people who attacked polling stations where voting for a by-election was taking place.

Chief electoral officer Shantmanu said protesters tried to snatch or damage electronic voting machines in at least a dozen places in the districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal on Sunday.

The deaths occurred when security forces fired after clashes broke out with protesters who wanted to stop the election for the Srinagar parliamentary constituency. The seat had fallen vacant after a lawmaker resigned to protest the killing of civilians during unrest last year.

Police said many protesters were injured in the violence.

Anti-India separatists who challenge India's sovereignty over Kashmir had called for a boycott of the by-election.

A Kashmiri man injured during anti India protests shouts slogans as he is brought for treatment outside a hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sunday, April. 9, 2017. The anti India protests happened during a first phase of by-elections to an Indian Parliament seat in the troubled region. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) </s> Indian soldiers celebrate while returning from a gunfight in Badigam, a village in Kashmir’s Shopian district, where five suspected militants were killed, May 6, 2018.

Authorities beefed up security in Indian Kashmir on Monday after 17 people were killed in gun battles and attacks over the weekend, including a university professor-turned suspected militant, and more than 100 were injured in protests.

But the situation remained tense as at least a dozen anti-India protesters were injured in fresh street clashes on Monday in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.

A day earlier, five civilians and five suspected militants, including the professor, Mohammad Rafi Bhat, and a top Hizbul Mujahideen separatist, Saddam Padder, were killed during a counter-insurgency operation, officials said. Local media described Padder as a top recruiter for the militant organization.

Meanwhile, clashes in the disputed Himalayan region left more than 100 anti-India protesters injured on Sunday, a day after three Lashkar-e-Toiba militants and a civilian were killed during a gunfight with security forces in Srinagar.

Also on Saturday suspected militants shot and killed three civilians in north Kashmir’s Bandipora and Sopore towns. The victims were suspected of working as informers for security forces, a police official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.

Internet service remained suspended across the region for a second day on Monday, leading authorities to order schools closed and to postpone university examinations indefinitely even as police played down the protests.

“Barring a few minor incidents of stone throwing Monday morning, the situation is under control in south Kashmir,” Amit Kumar, deputy inspector general of police, told BenarNews.

“There will be further improvement in the situation in coming days. Security has been strengthened especially in sensitive areas of south Kashmir, including Shopian district, to maintain order. Police expect youths not to resort to violence and help maintain peace,” he added.

Separatists extended their shutdown call for Tuesday against what they described as extra-judicial killings at the hands of Indian security forces in the region, which has seen about 70,000 killed during an insurgency over the last three decades. Both India and arch rival Pakistan have contending territorial claims on Kashmir and have fought wars over it.

On Monday, Mehbooba Mufti, the chief minister of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, urged parents to protect their children.

“I am shocked by yesterday’s killings. I appeal to Kashmiri people and also to the rest of the country to save our children from losing their lives to violence,” Mufti told reporters in Srinagar.

“God brought us into this world to live a good life and not throw away our lives to violence. Unfortunately stones and guns are in the hands of poor children. I appeal government of India too to play its role in saving lives of Kashmiri youths,” she said.

Professor contacted family

Two days after he went missing from Kashmir University where he taught sociology for about 18 months, Bhat, 30, was declared dead along with four other suspected militants following a gunbattle in Shopian on Sunday.

Family members said they did not know the professor who completed his doctorate in November 2017 had joined militants, and were shocked to get a phone call on Sunday morning.

“I may have hurt you, please forgive me. I am sorry I cannot see you ever as I am fighting a gun-battle and may meet Almighty God soon,” Bhat’s brother, Imtiyaz Ahmad Bhat, quoted him as having said minutes before he died in the gun battle.

“He talked briefly to our father and to other family members including his wife by phone from the gun fight site seeking forgiveness before putting the phone down never to receive our calls again. Sometime later police asked us to go to the gunfight site to convince him to surrender but before we could have reached there, all five militants had attained martyrdom,” he told BenarNews.

On Friday, Bhat who was married three years ago, delivered what turned out to be his last lecture at the university.

“He was a great teacher and human being. He would give his best to the students and advise them to work hard and excel in studies,” Masood Ahmad, a student at department of sociology told BenarNews.

Police are trying to determine what led to Bhat’s radicalization.

“Our initial investigations suggest his two cousins were killed in the past and this may have motivated him to join the militants to avenge the killings,” S.P. Vaid, Indian Kashmir’s police chief, told BenarNews. </s> Government forces have killed five rebels in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said, while a second day of anti-India protests and clashes left five civilians dead and dozens injured in the disputed region.

Government forces have killed five rebels in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said, while a second day of anti-India protests and clashes left five civilians dead and dozens injured in the disputed region.

Counter-insurgency officers and soldiers cordoned off the village following intelligence that a group of militants were hiding there. As the rebels and soldiers fought, government forces also fired bullets, shotgun pellets and tear gas at protesters trying to reach the gunbattle site. Five civilians were killed, one a teenage boy, and at least 50 others were wounded.

It was the second straight day of intense unrest in the region, which India and Pakistan administer parts of but both claim in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989, demanding Indian-controlled Kashmir be made part of Pakistan or become an independent country. Most Kashmiris support the rebel cause while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.

In recent years, mainly young Kashmiris have displayed open solidarity with rebels and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations. Last year, at least 29 civilians were killed and hundreds were wounded during such clashes. The funeral of Fayaz Ahmad Hamal, a local rebel, in Srinagar (Dar Yasin/AP) On Saturday, Indian troops killed three suspected rebels during a gunbattle in Srinagar, while one civilian was killed when a police armoured vehicle ran over him during clashes with government forces. Another three men were killed in shootings the police blamed on rebels.

Businesses shuttered in most parts of Kashmir on Sunday after separatists called for a strike to protest the previous day’s deaths. Internet on mobile phones also remained suspended for a second day, a common practice by Indian authorities to make organising protests difficult. Armed police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled across the region and also enforced a security lockdown in old parts of Srinagar, the urban heart of anti-India protests.

After several hours of fighting, five militants were killed and a policeman and a soldier wounded, said SP Vaid, police director-general. Among those killed were a top rebel commander and a university assistant professor who formally joined the militant ranks just two days before.

A statement by the University of Kashmir on Saturday said the sociology teacher, Mohammed Rafi Bhat, had been missing since Friday. Kashmir University suspends class work for two days Five Hizb militants, including a professor working in the sociology... Posted by University of Kashmir on Sunday, May 6, 2018 Mr Vaid said they repeatedly asked the militants to surrender.

“We made every effort so that they surrender. We even brought the university teacher’s father all the way to Shopian. But they refused,” Mr Vaid said. Anti-India protests and clashes continued in the area and also spread to some other towns and villages of southern Kashmir.

Anticipating protests, the University of Kashmir on Sunday issued a statement saying the classes would remain suspended for the next two days “as a precautionary measure”. In recent years, Kashmir has seen renewed rebel attacks and repeated public protests against Indian rule as a new generation of Kashmiri rebels, especially in the southern parts of the region, has revived the militancy and challenged New Delhi’s rule with guns and effective use of social media. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, a charge Pakistan denies. </s> SRINAGAR: Six people were killed and more than two dozen injured on Sunday when police clashed with protesters during a by-election in Srinagar in India's disputed Kashmir region, a senior police official said.

Separatist factions in Kashmir had called for a boycott of the vote, resulting in heightened security and low voter turnout when the polling began.

In Budgam district, police initially used tear gas against protesters who were throwing stones, but then opened fire, killing six people, the senior police official told Reuters.

More than two dozen people were injured during the clashes across central Kashmir on Sunday, the official said.

At least 70 polling stations were shut due to the violence, while at some stations voting machines were set ablaze by the protesters.

The by-election in Srinagar is being held to fill a vacant seat in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of parliament. A second by-election in the state for a separate Lok Sabha seat is set to take place on April 12 in Anantnag. The results of both polls are expected to be announced on April 15.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence over Kashmir, which each claims in full but rules only a part.

India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist fighters - a charge Islamabad denies. There have been a spate of protests since the killing by security services of separatist leader Burhan Wani.

The violence has killed 84 civilians and wounded more than 12,000 civilians and security force personnel.
Two days of clashes in Indian-administrated Jammu and Kashmir leaves eight militants and nine civilians dead, while over 100 protesters are injured during anti-India demonstrations.