Police and troops killed three militants in two separate gunbattles in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday, one of them near the de facto border with Pakistan, officers said.
Soldiers and members of the police's special operations group surrounded Hadoora, some 25 kilometres north of the main city of Srinagar, after a tip-off about suspected rebels inside a house in the village.
"In the ensuing gunfight two militants were killed. Both are foreigners" (a standard reference to rebels from Pakistan-administered Kashmir), police Superintendent Imtiyaz Ismael told AFP.
In a separate incident a group of militants attempted to cross the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan in the Sundabani sector, but were intercepted by Indian soldiers.
"One terrorist was eliminated in the operation while the balance group fled towards Pakistan Occupied Kashmir," said an army statement.
Several rebel groups have spent decades fighting Indian soldiers deployed in the disputed territory, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan which also claims the Himalayan region in its entirety.
Tens of thousands, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting.
Dozens of local youths joined the militant ranks following the killing of a popular rebel leader by government forces in July last year. The incident sparked months of anti-India unrest which left more than 90 civilians dead.
Clashes between the rebels and government forces have grown more frequent since then.
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