A relative hugs the body of Abid Hamid Mir, a suspected militant, killed during a gunbattle with Indian security forces at Amargarh in Baramulla district, on August 5, 2017.

:: Three rebels and one civilian were killed in violence in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday, police said, two days after soldiers killed five fighters along the de-facto border with Pakistan.

Inspector general of police Muneer Ahmed Khan said soldiers and police cordoned off a residential area after receiving information there were armed militants there.

“During the patrol three militants were found right outside a house and they were killed in a short and good operation,” Khan told AFP.

“All the three were locals,” he said.

The deaths sparked clashes between government forces and residents of the area, near the town of Tral, where locals threw stones and shouted slogans against Indian rule.

A police officer later confirmed that a teenager struck by pellets fired by security forces died in hospital from his injuries.

Months of protests

Tral was the home town of Burhan Wani, a hugely popular rebel leader whose death last year at the hands of security forces sparked months of deadly protests in Kashmir.

The latest incident came two days after Indian soldiers killed five unknown combatants as they tried to cross the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the disputed territory with Pakistan.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.

Rebel groups have for decades been fighting the around 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the territory, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.