Alwaght- At least seven civilians were killed and scores injured in Indian-controlled Kashmir Saturday after government soldiers opened fire on anti-Delhi protesters.
Indian troops surrounded a village in Kashmir's southern Pulwama region after being told that pro-independent militias were hiding there, said Muneer Ahmed Khan, a local police officer,
The Kashmiri fighters emerged and exchanged gunfire with soldiers and counterinsurgency police.
Three rebels and a soldier were also killed in the clashes and a further soldier was wounded.
The gun battle prompted angry protests in Indian administered Kashmir, where hundreds of people marched, chanting pro-independent slogans and calling for an end to Indian rule.
Protesters threw stones at Indian troops to help the militants escape. Government troops responded by shooting bullets, shotgun pellets and tear gas at the crowd.
Nine civilians remain critically injured.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but both countries claim the territory in its entirety.
Tension has remained at a near-constant high in the region since July 2016, when Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old militia leader, was killed by Indian security forces, prompting "the biggest outbreak of protest and violence" in the region since 2010.
