SRINAGAR, India: Indian troops shot dead two separatist militants on Thursday in a fierce nine-hour firefight on outskirts of Kashmir's main city, where popular protests against Indian rule have mounted in recent months. Troops evacuated hundreds of people after a gunbattle erupted between Indian forces and three suspected militants in a village in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday, police said. Army soldiers and police cordoned off a portion of Maloora, a village on the outskirts of the region's main city, Srinagar, following intelligence that suspected rebels were hiding in a home there, said Lt. Col. J.S. Brar, an army spokesman. One suspected militant later fled to another home. Troops escorted hundreds of civilians out of Maloora as the suspected rebels fired automatic weapons at government forces, Brar said. The confrontation in Indian-administered Kashmir was continuing after hours of heavy gunfire, Brar said. Police reinforcements sealed off the area. “The operation is taking long because the village is a maze of small alleys with concrete houses. We anticipate it's going to be a tough battle,” Brar said. No rebel group claimed involvement. Suspected rebels also fired toward a military helicopter flying low in the area without causing any damage, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the disputed Muslim-majority region, where rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with neighboring Pakistan since 1989. While rebellions by insurgent groups have largely been suppressed by Indian forces, the resistance is now principally through street demonstrations. On Thursday, shops and businesses were shut and public transport was halted in most parts of the region after separatists called for a strike against Indian rule. Since June, the region has been rocked by violent anti-India protests and subsequent crackdowns by government forces that have killed at least 111 people, mostly teenage boys and young men in their 20s. Authorities have imposed off-and-on curfews in an attempt to stop the protests. The violence comes at a time when New Delhi is struggling to calm anti-India protests on Kashmir's streets that has kept the region on the boil.
