1st LD Writethru: Militants kill 3 Indian policemen in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Militants on Monday shot dead three Indian policemen in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The killings were carried out at village Amshipora of Shopian district, about 60 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Militants today afternoon killed three policemen in Shopian," a police spokesman said. "The policemen had gone to investigate a dispute between neighbors in Amshipora village, when militants stopped them and shot them dead."

Reports said the policemen were intercepted by gunmen in military uniform from a private transport vehicle. "The uniformed gunmen stopped the vehicle and asked policemen to get down before firing bullets on them," a local told Xinhua over telephone.

Though policemen were later removed to a nearby Shopian hospital, however doctors posted there declared them dead.

Earlier in the morning, a junior level police officer was shot at and wounded critically in Pattan town, northwest of Srinagar. "The officer was shot from a close range inside a passenger bus at Mujgund," a police official said. "Following the attack they asked bus driver to stop and alighted from it."

The officer was removed to hospital and is under observation, police said.

No militant outfit so far has claimed responsibility for the killings. Militants occasionally target Indian police and troopers in the region.

A guerrilla war is going on between militants and Indian troopers stationed in the region since 1989.

In a third attack in the day, militants shot at and critically wounded a former militant in Tral town of Pulwama district.

Following the attacks, an alert was sounded and security tightened across the region.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Endi