Nine killed in violence in Indian Kashmir

At least nine people have been killed in attacks and gunfights in Kashmir in the past 24 hours.

At least nine people have been killed in attacks and gunfights in Kashmir in the past 24 hours.

Suspected Islamic militants fired a grenade overnight at a police post in southern Rajouri district but it missed its target and hit the home of a civilian, killing him and injuring four family members.

In Doda district, militants overnight killed two Hindus who were part of a security militia guarding a village, police said. Two rebels were also killed trying to enter the Indian zone of Kashmir from the Pakistani zone of the Himalayan province.

The army said it opened fire on four rebels spotted last night trying to cross the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Two died while the other two managed to "escape back" into Pakistani territory, a police spokesman said.

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Soldiers and police killed two more rebels in the village of Trespora Uttrasu in the southern district of Anantnag, police said.

Two other suspected rebels were killed this morning in Aragam, 60 kilometres north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and funding militants fighting to end Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989. Pakistan denies the charge but terms the rebellion a "just struggle for self-determination".

More than 37,500 have died in the bloodshed, according to Indian security forces. Separatists and Pakistan put the toll twice as high.

AFP