10 killed in J&K gunfight, clashes

Srinagar, Dec 15 (IANS) Three militants and a soldier were killed on Saturday during a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, while six other civilians died in subsequent clashes in the area, police said. The gunfight took place earlier in the day in Sirnoo village after the security forces received a tip-off about the holed-up militants. The identities of the slain militants were being ascertained, the police said. Two youths, identified as Amir Ahmad and Abid Hussain, sustained gun shot injuries in the clashes which erupted at the gunfight site between protesting civilians and the security forces. They were declared brought dead in a hospital. Four other civilian protesters who were brought for treatment, have also succumbed to their injuries, doctors said. The authorities have suspended mobile internet in Pulwama and rail services between the Kashmir Valley and Bannihal town in the Jammu region were cancelled.