Three rebels, one policeman killed in fighting in Indian Kashmir

Three suspected Islamic rebels and one policeman were killed Monday in separate clashes in the Indian controlled portion of Kashmir, police said Monday. Early Monday, security forces fought suspected Islamic militants and killed two of them in Laddu, a village 95 kilometers (59 miles) south of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, said police officer Ashiq Hussain. Hussain said the slain rebels belonged to the largest Kashmiri rebel group, Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen. There was no independent conformation of his claim.

In a nearby village, unidentified gunmen abducted a policeman early Monday from his home and later killed him in a rice field, Hussain said. Police blamed Islamic militants for his killing.

Also Monday, police killed another suspected Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen militant in a shootout in Chandyari, a village nearly 300 kilometers (185 miles) southwest of Srinagar, police said.

On Sunday, police arrested three suspected guerrillas during a raid in Pulwama, a town nearly 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Srinagar, a police statement said. Several pistols, grenades and two kilograms (4.5 pounds) of explosives were recovered from the rebel hide-out, the statement said, reports the AP. I.L.