Two policemen shot dead in Indian Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Suspected militants on Monday gunned down two Indian police officers in Srinagar, the main city in the restive state of Kashmir.

Police said the attackers shot at police as they patrolled the old part of the city, killing the two men before speeding off on a motorbike.

Deadly attacks on security forces are relatively common in the disputed Indian-controlled Himalayan region, but Srinagar has been largely free from such incidents in recent years.



"Reinforcement of paramilitary forces has reached the spot and an operation against the attackers has been initiated," a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

No militant group has claimed the attack.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in its entirety.

Several militant groups have since 1989 been fighting police or troops deployed in the Indian sector, calling for its independence or merger with Pakistan.