Violent clashes between police and protesters have erupted in Indian-controlled Kashmir following the killing of three rebels in a gunbattle.
Indian Army spokesman Colonel Nitin N. Joshi says the gunbattle on May 7 between militants and government forces began after troops acting on a tip cordoned off Panzgam village.
Joshi said the rebels belonged to Hizb-ul Mujahideen, Kashmir's largest rebel group.
Later, residents in neighboring Pulwama town threw rocks at police and paramilitary soldiers and chanted slogans against Indian rule.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since an anti-India insurgency broke out in 1989 in Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority region.
Rebels have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or merger with Pakistan, which controls another portion of the territory in the west.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
