SRINAGAR, Nov 13: Six people, including four Muslim rebels, were killed in two gunbattles in revolt-hit held Kashmir while police fired tear gas to quell anti-government protests, police and witnesses said on Sunday.

Two rebels, a Muslim student and an Indian soldier were killed in a fierce gunbattle on Saturday evening in the village of Palhalan, 30km north of Srinagar, a police statement said.

Two civilians and an army major were injured during the fighting that erupted when troops raided a suspected rebel hideout, it said.

Palhalan residents late on Saturday and again on Sunday held noisy protests on the main highway connecting Srinagar with the northern town of Baramulla, stranding hundreds of vehicles on the road.

Villagers said security forces killed only one militant during the fighting and that the other two who died had been students who had been used as “human shields” by the troops.—AFP