Two soldiers, policeman die in Kashmir gunbattle

Two Indian army soldiers and a policeman were killed in a gunbattle with suspected Islamic militants in the north of revolt-hit Indian Kashmir, police said Sunday.
The fighting erupted when soldiers, backed by counter-insurgency police, surrounded a militant hide-out about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the summer capital Srinagar late Saturday, police officer Javed Ahmed said.
"Two soldiers died in the initial burst of firing by the militants," Ahmed said. He said in the ensuing gunbattle a policeman was also killed. The militants escaped into nearby woods and are being tracked, he said.
Indian Kashmir is in the grip of a 17-year-old insurgency against New Delhi's rule that has left more than 44,000 people dead by official count. Separatists say the toll is at least twice as high.