6 killed in Kashmir gunbattles

Two rebels, a Muslim student and an Indian soldier were killed in a fierce gunbattle Saturday evening in the village of Palhalan, 30km north of the summer capital Srinagar, a police statement said.

Two civilians and an army major were injured during the fighting that erupted when troops raided a suspected rebel hideout, it said.

Palhalan residents late Saturday and again on Sunday held noisy protests on the main highway connecting Srinagar with the northern town of Baramulla, stranding hundreds of vehicles on the road.

Villagers said security forces killed only one militant during the fighting and that the other two who died had been students who had been used as "human shields" by the troops.