JAMMU, Dec 10: Freedom fighters hurled a grenade at a police patrol in occupied Kashmir, triggering a gunfight with security forces that left three people dead, while in separate violence another four people were killed, police said.

The fighters threw the grenade at a police vehicle in Poonch, killing an officer and wounding two others, police in the town said. The attackers — at least two in number — then began indiscriminate firing, wounding 14 civilians, said an officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Security forces posted in the area fired back, killing one freedom fighter, but the other took shelter in a residential building and the shooting continued through the afternoon, the officer said. One civilian also was killed in the crossfire, he said.

Meanwhile, during a raid on Wednesday on a freedom fighters hide-out in Panar Forest soldiers killed two suspected insurgents in a gunbattle, police said. Two soldiers were wounded.

Police said that another unidentified Kashmiri fighter was killed in a skirmish with security troops in Rathas village, about 325 kilometers north of Jammu.

Also on Wednesday, a civilian was gunned down by unknown killers in Wachi village, perhaps because he was suspected of being a police informer, police said.—APP