Indian troops surrounded a village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there, police said. As the soldiers began a search operation, militants jumped out of a civilian home and took position in a vast apple orchard while firing at soldiers and counterinsurgency police, said Muneer Ahmed Khan, a top police officer. Three rebels and a soldier were killed in the exchange of gunfire while one soldier was also wounded, he said. </s> A gunfight reportedly erupted between government forces and militants in south Kashmir's Shopian district's Hendew village.

As per reports, militants and government forces engaged in gunbattle following searches in the area.

Police had earlier rebutted news reports about millitant attack on Army in Shopian district.

On Thursday, three militants, an army man and a civilian were killed during a gunfight in Pulwama. Meanwhile, another gunfight is underway in Kupwara forests. </s> SRINAGAR (REUTERS) - Four Indian soldiers and a civilian were killed in a gunbattle in disputed Kashmir on Monday (Feb 18), a police official said, as India launched a hunt for suspected members of an Islamist militant group that killed 44 Indian paramilitary police last week.

A police spokesman in the northern state of Jammu & Kashmir said Indian troops had cordoned off Pinglan village in Kashmir's Pulwama district, where a suicide bomber rammed into a convoy of paramilitary police on Thursday (Feb 14).

Another state police official, who declined to be identified because the operation is not yet over, said information had been received about the presence of up to three militants from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group, including foreigners, inside a house in the village.

The second police official said four soldiers and a civilian were killed in the gunbattle.

"There was an exchange of fire early this morning that wounded the army men and the owner of the house. They died later," said official said.

An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Pulwama and police have asked people to stay indoors.

Mr Mohammad Yunis, a journalist in Pulwama, said troops were searching the village and civilians trapped in adjacent houses were being evacuated.

Pakistan has denied any links to the attack on the convoy of reserve police last week.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility, is claimed in its entirety by India and Pakistan but is ruled in part by both south Asian countries.

Indian forces have detained about 23 men suspected of links to Jaish, which has claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack on Indian security forces in decades. </s> SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Five rebels, two army soldiers and two civilians were killed Thursday during two gunbattles in disputed Kashmir that triggered anti-India protests and clashes, officials and residents said.

The first gunbattle broke out in a neighborhood in southern Pulwama town as police and soldiers scoured the area looking for militants, said Col. Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesman. He said as troops began conducting searches, they came under heavy gunfire, leading to a clash that killed three militants and a soldier.

A civilian was also killed and his brother was wounded during the fighting, police said. Two soldiers were also injured.

Local residents said troops damaged one civilian home with explosives.

The fighting sparked protests and clashes as hundreds of residents tried to march to the site of the battle in solidarity with the rebels despite the security lockdown in the area.

Government forces fired shotgun pellets and tear gas at protesters, who threw stones at them. No one was immediately reported injured in the street clashes.

In the second gunbattle, also in southern Kashmir, government forces launched a search operation in a village near Shopian town following a tip that militants were hiding there, police said. As the troops surrounded a civilian house, militants reportedly came out while firing at them and tried to take refuge in a nearby apple orchard.

In the ensuing exchange of gunfire, two rebels, a civilian and a soldier were killed, police and residents said. Earlier, police had said three militants were killed. However, one of the slain people turned out to be a local resident, residents said. Police maintained that he was an "active associate" of the militants but acknowledged he was not an underground militant.

Meanwhile, the Joint Resistance Leadership, composed of three top separatist leaders who challenge India's sovereignty over Kashmir, called for a protest strike on Friday, saying there has been no letup in the bloodshed even in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan "as civilians, armed youth or even Indian forces are getting killed."

"In one manner or the other, Kashmiris continue to pay the price of the unresolved Kashmir issue," they said in a statement. "Use of force against them continues unabated."

India and Pakistan each claim the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989.

Most Kashmiris support the rebels' demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.

About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian crackdown. </s> SRINAGAR: While a police statement said that three militants were killed in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, it was confirmed later that one of the victims was a civilian.

The police said in a statement on Thursday that three militants were killed in the gunfight that took place earlier in the day in Handew village.

While two victims were identified as Yawar Mushtaq and Shakeel Ahmed, both Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants from Shopian, the third was identified as a civilian, Ishtiyaq Ahmed Bhat.

A soldier, Rohit Kumar Yadav who was injured in the gunfight, succumbed to his wounds on Thursday night in the Army's 92 base hospital in Srinagar, the police said.

In Thursday's two gunfights in Pulwama and Shopian districts killed a total of five militants, two civilians and two soldiers.

Three Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants, including a top commander identified as a Pakistan national Khalid Bhai, a civilian and a soldier were killed in a gunfight in Dalipora village of Pulwama.

Police said Khalid Bhai had masterminded the 2017 attack on the Lethpora CRPF camp in Pulwama district in which five troopers were killed.

In a third shootout between the security forces and militants in Kupwara's Kandi forests on Thursday, there were no reports of any casualty. </s> 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> Violence erupts in Kashmir after security forces kill militants, say police

People shout slogans as they gather around the body of Shabir Ahmad, a suspected militant who was killed in a gunbattle with Indian security forces, during his funeral at Aghanzipora village, in South Kashmir's Pulwama district, March 16, 2018. — ReuterSRINAGAR, April 1 — At least 12 people, including eight suspected militants, were killed in gun battles with Indian security forces in southern Kashmir, police officials said, in one of the most violent days in the restive region this year.

Two Indian soldiers and two civilians were also killed, and more than 30 people were injured when hundreds of protesters pelted stones at the security forces to disrupt their anti-militant operations, police said.

Troops used tear gas and pellet guns to disperse the crowd, and later opened fire. Most of the injured sustained pellet wounds but six had gunshot wounds, said S.P. Vaid, the director general of the state police.

Local residents put the number of injured at over 50.

Muslim separatists have been waging a violent campaign against Indian rule since the late 1980s in Indian-held Kashmir.

Vaid said the army received information on Saturday night about militants hiding in an area near Dragad village in Shopian district, about 50 km (30 miles) south of Kashmir’s capital of Srinagar.

“In Dragad, 7 bodies of militants were recovered including top commanders. They were killed in a gun battle,” Vaid said, adding that the owner of the house in which the militants were trapped was also killed.

Another militant was killed in Dialgam village in Anantnag district, about 60 km (37 miles) south of Srinagar, while one was caught alive, he said.

Two Indian soldiers and one civilian were killed in another gun battle in Kachdoora village, which is also in Shopian district, where a battle with a separate group of 4-5 militants was ongoing, Vaid said. Train services to south Kashmir have been suspended as a precautionary measure, a railways official said, and internet services in five districts have also been blocked.

In south Kashmir’s Pulwama district the local administration has imposed restrictions on the movement of people and vehicles to prevent any violence. — Reuters </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, KASHMIR (DPA) - Three suspected militants and an Indian Army soldier were killed on Thursday (May 16) in a counter-insurgency operation in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir state, police said.

A civilian was also killed in the crossfire between the rebels and security forces, a local police official said.

The Indian Army's Northern Command said in a Twitter post that three "terrorists" had been killed and weapons have been confiscated.

The incident kicked off when a team made up of army, police and paramilitary forces cordoned off the Dalipora area after receiving information on the presence of militants. As the joint team intensified its search, the militants opened fire.

Two soldiers were injured in the ensuing gun battle. One of them succumbed to injuries as he was being airlifted to the army hospital in Srinagar. A civilian was killed and his brother injured in the crossfire, police said.

Search and sanitisation operations were being carried out. A curfew has been imposed in the area as hundreds of local people tried to march to the site of the encounter, NDTV news channel reported.

Internet services were suspended in the district.

Indian security forces have intensified anti-insurgency operations in the region after a suicide bombing killed 40 paramilitary troopers on a highway in Pulwama on Feb 14.

Tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan escalated after the bombing following which India launched an airstrike on what it claimed was a rebel camp inside Pakistan.
Indian soldiers and counterinsurgency police exchange gunfire with militants in the southern district of Pulwama, resulting in the deaths of one soldier and three militants. The soldiers then opened fire on a crowd of anti-government protesters who gathered after the battle, killing seven civilians and injuring 40 others.