One killed, six injured in India-controlled Kashmir

One policeman was killed and six people injured in a fierce gun battle between militants and the police Wednesday morning in downtown Srinagar, the summer capital of India-controlled Kashmir.

The injured included two security personnel and four civilians, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.

The militants, who hid in the Standard Hotel near the city's busy shopping street Lal Chowk, hurled grenades and fired from automatic weapons at the police guards outside a building used as a barrack.

A caller of the Al Mansoorian militant outfit called up a local news agency to claim responsibility for the attack. According to the caller, around three men of the outfit were hiding in the hotel.

But a senior police official said that there were two inside the hotel.

"A raiding party of the CRPF and police entered the first floor of the hotel and searched some rooms. We have to move cautiously as the area is heavily congested," said the official.

The police were evacuating shoppers and shopkeepers out of the area.

"We have so far rescued more than 200 persons safely. There are still people trapped inside shops and some homes there. Efforts are continuing to rescue them," the official said.

Heavy police and paramilitary reinforcements have moved into the area and the city center has been sealed.

Source: Xinhua