Indian police said they killed three Pakistani militants - including a top commander - in a pre-dawn shootout in the northern Indian city of Lucknow today.
The men belonged to the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad which is fighting Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir - the country's only Muslim-majority state.
Police said one of the dead men was carrying a card identifying him as commander-in-chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad from Sindh province in Pakistan.
The group was launched by Pakistani cleric Moulana Masood Azhar after he was freed by Indian authorities in a deal to end the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in December 1999.