Indian officials say nearly 18-hour-long gunbattle has ended in the outskirts of India-administered Kashmir's main city after troops killed three suspected rebels.
Indian paramilitary spokesman Sanjay Sharma says the three militants were killed Sunday in the outskirts of Srinagar. Two counterinsurgency police officials and a soldier are wounded.
Sharma says Indian troops had laid a siege around a neighbourhood on Saturday on a tip that militants were hiding there.
The fighting sparked anti-India protests and clashes as residents tried to march to the site of the battle in solidarity with the suspected rebels.
Indian forces fired warning shots, shotgun pellets and tear gas at the stone-throwing protesters. No one was immediately reported injured.
Disputed territory
India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim it in its entirety.
Most Kashmiris support rebel demands that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.
In recent years, mainly young Kashmiris have displayed open solidarity with the rebels and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations.
Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, a charge Pakistan denies.
Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.
