Indian government forces kill two militants during firefight in Kashmir

SRINAGAR , India, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Forces with India's military and police killed two militants during a firefight in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to officials.

The incident occurred in the village of Ratanpora, 16 miles south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state.

An Indian police officer was wounded in the gunfight, which lasted throughout Tuesday, a police spokesman told Xinhua news agency.

The spokesman said the militants were members of a group known as Lashkar-e-Toiba, which was implicated in 2008 terror attacks that killed 166 people in Mumbai.

A joint force of Indian military, police and paramilitary troops cordoned the village in the Pulwama district after receiving reports of LeT activity in the area. A group of young men are reported to have thrown stones and bricks at government forces in an attempt to end the cordon and help the militants escape.

The joint force responded by launching tear gas and issuing warning shots to try dispersing the crowd.

An LeT militant was killed in a similar firefight last week in a nearby village in the Pulwama district, Xinhua reports.

India has since 1989 battled militant groups in the region of Jammu and Kashmir, of which it shares administration with neighboring Pakistan. Both countries have fought three major wars over the territory since the 1940s and have since engaged in sporadic cross-border shelling.

Late last month, militants who police believe came from Indian-administered Kashmir stormed a police station in the town of Dinanagar, in Punjab state. Police killed the three gunmen after an 11-hour siege that claimed 10 lives.