Six people, including four freedom fighters, were killed in two gunbattles in Indian occupied Kashmir while police fired tear gas to quell anti-government protests, police and witnesses said on Sunday.
Two freedom fighters, a student and an Indian occupation soldier were killed in a fierce gunbattle Saturday evening in the village of Palhalan, 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of the capital Indian occupied Srinagar, a police statement said.
Two civilians and an occupation army major were injured during the fighting that erupted when occupation troops raided a suspected freedom fighter hideout, it said.
Palhalan residents late Saturday and again on Sunday held noisy protests on the main highway connecting occupied Srinagar with the northern town of Baramulla, stranding hundreds of vehicles on the road.
Villagers said Indian security forces killed only one freedom fighter during the fighting and that the other two who died had been students who had been used as "human shields" by the occupation troops.
Police maintained that only one student was killed when he was caught in crossfire.
A freedom fighter, Syed Ali Geelani, was detained by police before he could enter the village and join the protesters, police said.
Separately, police said occupation troops shot dead two more freedom fighters in the southern district of Udhampur on Sunday.