Police said Indian forces killed two Kashmiris during a gunbattle in the outskirts of held Kashmir's main city on Wednesday, sparking anti-India protests by residents.

Indian troops laid a siege around a neighbourhood in Srinagar on a tip that Kashmiri fighters were hiding there.

The searches by troops triggered an exchange of gunfire, resulting in the deaths of two armed Kashmiris and injuries to four Indian soldiers and two counterinsurgency policemen.

The fighting sparked protests and clashes as residents tried to march to the site of the battle in solidarity with the Kashmiri fighters.

Indian forces fired warning shots, shotgun pellets and tear gas at the stone-throwing protesters, injuring at least four people.

Most Kashmiris support the cause of unifying the divided region either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.