Funeral held for cop killed in Indian-administered Kashmir

A funeral was held on Sunday for one of eight policemen killed in a shootout that followed a rebel attack early on Saturday on a security camp in Indian-administered Kashmir's Pulwana town.

Two rebels were also killed in the hours-long gun battle that ensued after the rebels stormed into the police camp, Indian police said.

In a statement to local newspapers, Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack.

It was the deadliest on a state security facility since September last year, when armed militants broke into an army camp in Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) - the de facto border with Pakistan - killing 18 army personnel.

Indian troops have killed 134 rebels this year, mostly in the past two months, officials said. Last year’s total was 150.

Some 79 rebels are believed to have crossed the LoC into Indian-administered Kashmir in July, according to Indian officials.

The South Asian neighbours have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.

India has stationed over half-a-million troops in the region where rebel groups have fought them for decades in hope to gain independence or merge the territory with neighbouring Pakistan.

The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.