Gun battle in Jammu Kashmir kills 3

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) - Two militants and a civilian were killed on Tuesday by the Indian forces in disputed Jammu and Kashmir.

The gun battle occurred in Larnoo village in Anantnag district, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital Srinagar.

"Two civilians sustained bullet injuries when a mob pelted stones on an army camp located at Khudwani. Khalid Ahmed Dar, 22, succumbed to a bullet injury on his neck at the district hospital in Anantnag. Yasir Ahmed Dar, 30, also suffered a shoulder injury but is in stable condition," police spokesman Manoj Pandita said in a statement.

He also confirmed the killing of two local militants, adding that one of them was from the neighboring Khudwani village.

Protests erupted as news of the killings spread in the village.

Locals said that the Indian forces opened fire on the protesters.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

The two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- since they were partitioned in 1947, two over Kashmir.

Also in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.