[DAWN] Anti-India protests and festivities erupted in the main city in India-held Kashmire (IHK) on Wednesday after a gunbattle between gunnies and government forces killed at least two suspected Kashmiri fighters, a civilian and a counterinsurgency police official, residents and police said.At least a dozen journalists covering the fighting were beaten by counterinsurgency coppers well after the fighting ended, media groups and news hounds said.
The gunbattle began early on Wednesday after troops cordoned off a neighborhood in Srinagar on a tip that some armed fighters were in a civilian home, police said. The exchange of gunfire lasted for about half an hour, police said, leaving two armed fighters, a son of the house owner and a police official dead.
Asif Nabi, another son of the house owner, said the shooting began shortly after Indian troops knocked on their door and took away his brother. Police said the man was killed in the fighting as he tried to escape along with the armed fighter, alleging he had provided logistic support to them.
The house owner suffered cardiac arrest during the raid and was hospitalised, residents and police said.
At least three soldiers were also injured in the fighting. No further information was immediately available.
Residents said they heard loud kabooms during the fighting and accused the troops of blasting at least two houses with explosives.
As news of the fighting spread, anti-India protests and festivities erupted in several places in downtown Srinagar. Demonstrators chanting slogans demanding an end to Indian rule tried to reach the site of the standoff and threw stones at police and paramilitary soldiers.
Indian forces fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to stop the protesters. There were no reports of injuries.