SRINAGAR: Indian police and troops claim to have killed five suspected militants in an overnight gun battle Friday in a forested area of northern Kashmir, triggering anti-India protests by local residents, police said.

Police and an army contingent began a joint operation around midnight near the Najwan forests, 35 kilometres (20 miles) north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.

“The group of militants was leaving one forest area for another when we intercepted and challenged them. All the five were killed in the ensuing firefight,” said superintendent of police Shahid Meraj.

Meraj alleged that the militants had travelled from Pakistan-administered Kashmir around a year earlier and belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group.

During the last two months, the Indian army claims to have killed 28 militants in various gun battles near the forested areas of northern Kashmir.

In a separate incident Friday night, the army claimed to have thwarted a bid by an unknown number of militants to infiltrate from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Akhnoor, 340 kilometres southwest of Srinagar.