Army kills four militants in Indian Kashmir

Four suspected rebels and two Indian army soldiers were killed in a gun battle in a village in Indian-administered Kashmir on Sunday, an army spokesman said.

The militants were hiding in a south Kashmir village when the army and police surrounded it, a police official said.

In the ensuing fire fight four militants and two soldiers were killed.

"Four terrorists were killed and four weapons were recovered from the encounter site," army spokesman in Srinagar, Col Manish told AFP.

"Two soldiers were also martyred and three injured during the encounter," he added.

The operation was ongoing, Col Manish said.

A civilian, the young son of the owner of the house in which the militants were hiding, was also killed, Jammu and Kashmir police chief SP Vaid told AFP.

Three militants managed to escape, a Superintendent of Police, who declined to be identified, told AFP.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since they won independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety.

Several rebel groups have for decades fought the 500,000 Indian troops deployed in the region, demanding independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan.

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

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.