SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A policeman and a militant were killed, with three troopers and two civilians wounded in a gunfight in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said Thursday.
The gunfight broke out Wednesday evening at a village in Kulgam district, about 75 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, when the joint contingents were carrying out house-to-house searches "on specific intelligence information suggesting the presence of militants."
Officials said the wounded were immediately airlifted to an army base hospital in Srinagar's cantonment area.
"Later on, the holed up militant was also killed in the stand-off," the police official said.
Altogether 14 militants were killed in eight gunfights since the beginning of this year, a local news agency quoted the region's police chief Dilbag Singh as saying.
A guerilla war has been going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in the region since 1989. The gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently across the region.
Kashmir, the region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. ■
