Deadly gun battle erupts in Kashmir town

Indian police say security forces are battling a group of gunmen inside a government compound in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.

Police told the Associated Press news agency yesterday that army and paramilitary soldiers cordoned off the compound after gunshots were heard near Pampore town, about 10km outside of Srinagar, capital of Indian Kashmir.

One soldier was reported wounded in the initial fighting. Sources told Al Jazeera that at least two suspected rebels are holed up inside the Entrepreneurship Development Institute, and that intermittent shooting could be heard in the building.

There are no hostages, sources said, because classes have been suspended for more than three months because of the unrest in the state that began with the killing of 22-year-old terrorist Burhan Wani.

According to police, terrorists who broke into the institute in the morning approached the campus on the outskirts of Srinagar through boats on the River Jhelum, which flows from Kashmir into Pakistan.

"We are confident of neutralising the terrorists as soon as possible," an army officer supervising the operation said.

The attack comes as Kashmir is experiencing its largest protests against Indian rule in recent years, sparked by the killing in July of a popular rebel commander by Indian soldiers.

The protests, and a sweeping military crackdown, have all but paralysed life in Indian-controlled Kashmir, with shops, schools and most banks remaining shut and mobile phone and internet services working intermittently.

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

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where rebel groups have fought Indian troops since 1989 for either independence or a merger with Pakistan. More than 70,000 people have been killed since then.