Two suspected rebels and a civilian were killed in a shootout with government forces in southern Kashmir, police said on Friday, sparking fresh unrest after months of deadly violence.
The battle broke out when soldiers and police surrounded a house around 45 kilometres south of the main city of Srinagar on Thursday after receiving a tip off that suspected rebels were there.
"We have recovered two bodies of the militants from the site of the encounter. Their weapons were also found there," deputy inspector general of police for the area, Nitish Kumar told AFP.
A police statement said a "stray bullet" had killed one civilian, whose death sparked angry protests in the area.
Hundreds of villagers had marched towards the village where the shootout occurred on Thursday, shouting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans and hurling stones at the government forces to try to help the militants escape.
At least 45 protesters were injured as police and paramilitaries fired tear gas shells and pellet guns to disperse them, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to journalists.
Mass protests against Indian rule broke out in July after soldiers killed a popular rebel leader, but have largely subsided following a major security crackdown.
More than 90 civilians and two policemen were killed and thousands were injured in clashes with government forces.
Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard near the site of a gunbattle between suspected militants and security personnel at Arwani Bijbehara, south of Srinagar, on Thursday.
