SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Four militants, an Indian army trooper, and a policeman were killed Tuesday in a fierce gunfight in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.
A trooper wounded in the stand-off was immediately sent to an army base hospital in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The gunfight broke out at village Laam of Tral in Pulwama district, about 48 km south of Srinagar city.
"The gunfight has ended with the killing of militants," a senior police official posted in Tral told Xinhua. "Unfortunately a trooper and a policeman also lost their lives fighting these militants."
Regional Police Chief Shesh Paul Vaid put the number of killed militants in the gunfight at four.
According to police officials, the gunfight triggered after contingents of police and army cordoned off the forest area on specific intelligence information suggesting presence of three militants.
The identities of the slain militants were being ascertained, police said.
Last week a trooper was wounded after militants attacked them at village Seer Jagir of Tral.
A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989. The gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently across the region.
Kashmir, the Himalayan 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.
