Suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad 'leader' shot dead in Kashmir

A suspected leader of the Pakistani militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad and another suspected militant have been killed in a shootout with security forces in Kashmir.

The incident took place on Monday night in Srinagar after rebels shot dead three policemen in separate attacks in the city.

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.

Two militants, including a JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammad) commander were killed after a brief encounter, Srinagar police chief Amit Kuma said reports Dawn.

Another senior officer, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, identified one of the dead as Saifullah, a Pakistani national and senior leader of JeM, one of the groups India blames for a 2001 attack on its Parliament.

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

An insurgency to end Indian rule in the mainly Muslim region broke out in 1989 and has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians.